Utterly Subdued!

"Clang, clang, clang..."

Before dawn had fully broken, waves of mining rang out from Mine Tunnel No. 3 of T-Shaped Pit.

As one of the many mine slaves, Qin Yao worked with exceptional vigor!

After all, everyone else worked merely to get by, to earn a bite to eat and avoid a beating.

Qin Yao was different.

With the Grind Emperor System, the harder he worked, the more he earned.

And what he earned was not merely food, but, more importantly, the growth of his proficiency!

As long as he ground out all 20,000 proficiency points for "Mining at Mastery," he would not only enter a new realm of mining, but his speed, strength, and many other aspects would become comparable to a first-layer Body Tempering Realm martial artist!

To Qin Yao, that was the greatest motivation of all!

In this remote little mountain village, possessing combat power on par with a "first-layer Body Tempering Realm" martial artist meant having at least some ability to protect himself.

"Skill Mining: Mastery (587/20000)"

"Skill Mining: Mastery (1052/20000)"

"Skill Mining: Mastery (1496/20000)"

At a certain moment—"Crack!"

As Qin Yao brought his pickaxe down with all his strength, its wooden handle snapped on the spot.

The glossy black pickaxe head was jolted nearly half a man's height into the air. It spun once midair before crashing heavily to the ground.

The surrounding mine slaves were all shaken by the sight.

"Good grief, Brother Yao really is putting his back into it!"

"He only arrived yesterday morning. Even counting it all up, it hasn't even been a day and a half, yet he's already worked his tool to ruin."

"That's incredible..."

"Incredible my ass. If you ask me, this kid's just plain stupid!

"As a mine slave, no matter how much work you do in this place, you'll only get a few extra bites to eat.

"Burning through his body like this, he'll be finished within two months!"

"Tch, you're just calling the grapes sour because you can't eat them."

"Qin Yao, good work."

At that moment, Li Gang came over with a nearly new iron pickaxe in hand. "Here, a new tool for you.

"Work hard. If you can keep this up until the end of the month, I'll reward you with half a jin of pork!"

To Li Gang, Qin Yao alone could do the work of five men, and he did not even need to pay him extra—he only had to let the other mine slaves share some food with him.

He was truly a rare and excellent "tool"!

Thanks to him, this month's work quota would definitely be met.

He might even rank higher and earn a reward.

When the time came, he could pinch a little out from between his teeth to reward Qin Yao. That would surely stir up even more energy in the kid, making him work even harder next month. What a delight...

As for whether Qin Yao would die young from overworking his body?

Li Gang did not care in the slightest.

After all, of the mine slaves who came here, fewer than thirty percent made it through their first year with both arms and legs intact.

The long term?

That was not something mine slaves were qualified to consider!

Just like now—when the veteran mine slaves heard that Qin Yao could receive half a jin of pork just by lasting until the end of the month, every one of them stared with shining eyes, drool spilling uncontrollably from their mouths.

Though mine slaves could eat at least one full meal a day, there was scarcely any oil or meat in it.

To them, half a jin of pork was tempting enough to rival half a tael of silver!

If it was fatty enough, they could even render lard from it. Scooping a bit into the pot while cooking rice—now that flavor, tsk tsk tsk, fragrant as could be...

Seeing the reactions of the old mine slaves, Qin Yao put on an utterly excited expression and said, "Thank you, Foreman. I'll definitely work hard!"

" Ding, proficiency in the skill 'Acting' +3 "

"Hahaha, good, good!"

Li Gang patted him on the shoulder in encouragement.

Qin Yao truly did as he said. His iron pickaxe whirled through the air as sweat poured from him.

"Mining" skill proficiency +1

"Mining" skill proficiency +2

"Mining" skill proficiency...

As Qin Yao's Mining mastery reached the Major Accomplishment realm, his mining technique had indeed become far more refined.

Yet the increase in proficiency had instead dropped considerably compared to when he was at the Minor Accomplishment realm.

After mulling it over, Qin Yao figured it was related to the quality of the ore he was mining.

The ore was too low-grade. Even if you were a "mining master," it was hard to gain any further insights from a single swing of the pickaxe.

It was like playing a game.

At first, all the opponents you faced were Bronze and Silver. As your understanding of the game deepened and your skills improved, your rank visibly rose.

But once you had played for a while and climbed to Diamond or King, then went back to stomp noobs in "Bronze matches," it became very difficult to improve from them!

Qin Yao, however, did not care much.

With the Grind Emperor System, he was not afraid of being slow—only of standing still.

As long as he kept working without stop, even if he only gained one point at a time, the day would eventually come when he filled all twenty thousand points!

Clang! Clang! Clang...

At some point, the familiar sound of a bronze gong rang out again.

Qin Yao slowly set down his iron pickaxe. With a thought, a translucent system panel appeared before his eyes.

"Host: Qin Yao"

"Realm: None. However, for an ordinary person, the body's capabilities are already exceptionally strong. Only one step remains before entering martial cultivation's 'Body Tempering Realm, First Layer.'"

"Technique: None"

"Skills: Mining (Major Accomplishment Realm, 2126/20000); Eating (Beginner Realm, 289/300); Acting (Beginner Realm, 198/500)"

"Available Tokens: 6"

"From morning until noon, I grinded out roughly one-tenth of the proficiency.

"The afternoon work hours will be longer. All things considered, I can now grind about five thousand proficiency points every day.

"In other words, four days from now, my Mining skill will enter its next realm.

"My physical capabilities will become even stronger too!"

At the thought, a surge of anticipation welled up from deep within Qin Yao's heart.

Though inwardly delighted, he deliberately adjusted his gait and breathing, silently activating his Acting skill.

He followed the group forward, his shoulders slightly slumped. His walking posture carried the stiffness of someone worn down by long-term labor, while his breathing sounded somewhat heavy.

He even held his breath and used other methods to force a faint sheen of sweat onto his forehead!

"Acting" skill proficiency +2

"Acting" skill proficiency +3

"Acting" skill proficiency...

These subtle performances had now practically become Qin Yao's instinct.

This allowed him to perfectly conceal his strength while continuously farming proficiency—killing two birds with one stone.

When overseer Li Gang's gaze swept over him, he saw Qin Yao looking utterly exhausted after working honestly and diligently, and was quite satisfied.

At the gravel plaza, they lined up to collect their meals.

It was the same familiar scene, the same unchanging food.

After collecting his meal, Qin Yao did not rush to eat. Instead, he strode toward Zhao Jian in great strides!

"Fuck, again?!"

The mine slaves immediately perked up, eager to watch the show.

"This guy is seriously badass!"

"Zhao Jian is seriously miserable! Hahahaha..."

Seeing that fiend-like figure charging toward him in a blaze of fury, Zhao Jian's face instantly turned pale with fright.

He had not eaten anything since last night. To finish his morning quota, he had practically staked half his life on it.

And now, the moment the flatbread and soup reached his hands, that god of slaughter had come again?!

Zhao Jian suddenly felt the urge to cry.

There was definitely no time to chew and swallow the flatbread.

So he stuffed it into his clothes, then took off running at full speed while throwing back his head and desperately gulping down the vegetable soup!

One mouthful was one mouthful!

But how could he possibly outrun Qin Yao?

The youth tossed his flatbread and soup to Little Liuzi for safekeeping, then sprang after him in a single stride.

In no time at all, he seized Zhao Jian and slammed him to the ground.

Qin Yao flipped him over and raised his fist to strike!

"Ah! Aaaah!"

Zhao Jian frantically fumbled a flatbread from his robes, his face crumpling as he cried, "Here, here, here—Brother Qin, Lord Qin!

"I was wrong! I know I was wrong!!"

"Just let me have two sips of soup, and share one bite of the flatbread with me, all right? I don't want to die yet, wahhh..."

The bastard cried rivers of snot and tears. "Please spare this worthless life of mine. From now on, I'll work my hardest. I'll give you half of every meal I earn, all right?"

Qin Yao thought it over. If he really kept chasing Zhao Jian down and beating him until he could not get food for three or four days, he truly could starve the man to death.

But after Zhao Jian died, Qin Yao would no longer have a reasonable excuse to snatch food.

He could hardly pick someone with no grudge or grievance against him and just go steal their food, could he?

Not to mention, with Qin Yao's temperament, he could not bring himself to do such a thing.

Even if he could.

Without "the backing of hatred" as a "legitimate reason" driving him, he would still be risking the whip every meal to get food; taking three beatings a day, yet somehow not having his strength for labor affected in the slightest?

Given enough time, people would definitely grow suspicious.

That was not something Qin Yao wanted to see.

So he said, "Fine. I'll give you one chance!"

Zhao Jian looked as though he had been granted a pardon. "Thank you, Lord Qin! Thank you, Lord Qin!"

Qin Yao grabbed him by the collar and snarled, "If you dare go back on your word again..."

"No, no, no! This lowly one absolutely wouldn't dare, absolutely wouldn't dare."

Zhao Jian was so terrified his soul was nearly scared out of him, and he waved his hands again and again.

Anyone could see that Zhao Jian, this old deadbeat, had finally been beaten into submission!