Grind Emperor System: You Just Keep Grinding, and I'll Hoist You to the Azure Clouds!

Before long, a written indictment had been plastered across every street and alley in Red River County—"Qin Yao cheated in the examination, stole his academic honors, and displayed vile character. Strip him of his honors, reduce him to the common rolls, and exile him to the Black Iron mines of the Northern Frontier for thirty years of hard labor!"

The former prodigy top scorer had become a criminal scorned by all in the blink of an eye.

To look after her grandson, Grandfather Qin Dashan sold off the family property. Ignoring his age and illness, he took Qin Lan and followed the escort party to the bitterly cold mines of the Northern Frontier.

Half a month later.

Northern Frontier.

Black Iron Mining Area, commoner camp.

Qin Yao slowly woke in a cold, moldy shack.

"Damn..."

He cursed under his breath, his voice as hoarse as a broken gong.

He licked his cracked, bleeding lips, overcome by extreme weakness.

"Brother, you're awake? That's wonderful!"

It was his younger sister Qin Lan's voice.

Timid and hesitant, still carrying a touch of childish innocence.

Qin Yao struggled to turn his head and saw Qin Lan hurrying in with a chipped clay bowl in her hands.

When the girl saw that her brother was awake, she tried hard to force out a smile, but it was more heartbreaking than tears.

The ten-year-old girl had grown so thin she was nearly unrecognizable. Her face was sallow and waxen, while her large eyes brimmed with tears and fear of the world.

She wore thin clothes covered in patches, shivering in the freezing Northern Frontier night.

"Lan'er, be good. Where's Grandfather?"

Qin Yao stroked his sister's head painfully and asked.

"Grandfather went to find the steward, begging him to let you rest two more days before going down into the mine."

Qin Yao's heart lurched.

Grandfather had gone to see the steward, asking for him to rest a few extra days?

That was not something a few kind words could settle. It would definitely require silver!

Qin Yao had only arrived at his place of service with all four limbs intact because Grandfather had swallowed his pride, begged countless people, and barely scraped together enough money to keep him alive!

And now...

"Brother, drink some porridge."

Qin Lan's voice was soft and weak, choked with sobs.

Qin Yao looked at the cloudy rice soup in the bowl, thin enough to reflect a person's shadow, but his gaze was nailed to the hand Qin Lan extended toward him.

Those fingers should have been slender and tender, yet they were now covered in needle pricks and hangnails.

Some had scabbed over, while others were still red and swollen...

For him, Grandfather had sold everything and brought his sister down into this abyss.

For him, his sister's little hands—hands that should have spent these beautiful years playing like a child—had already been worn raw and scarred by life and suffering.

An indescribable bitterness mixed with resentment and fury erupted in Qin Yao's chest!

"Qin Yuwei! Qin Yongnian!

"And those so-called clansmen who kicked us when we were down!

"You stole my honors, ruined my future, and brought my whole family to this state!

"If I do not avenge this hatred, I swear I am not human!!"

"Ding! Grind Emperor System integration has reached 100%."

Suddenly, an icy mechanical voice exploded through Qin Yao's despairing mind.

He jolted. "Huh? So the faint words I seemed to hear by my ear that day weren't an illusion?"

The next moment, a translucent panel appeared before his eyes.

Host: Qin Yao

Realm: None. Frail scholar, worn down by travel and toil, physically weak

Cultivation Method: None

Skills: None

Available Points: 0

Core Function: Skill Quantification: You need only grind away. The Grind Emperor System will turn every effort you make into tangible points of proficiency, grant you upgrade feedback, and hoist your ambitions to the azure clouds!

"Grind Emperor System?!"

Qin Yao's heart began to pound wildly!

In his previous life, Qin Yao had been a workhorse who had just graduated, hunted for a job, and ground himself to the bone in the rat race. He often relied on webnovels on his phone to go with meals and help him sleep.

He knew all too well what a system was!

"Brother... what's wrong?"

Seeing the sudden sharpness and vitality in her brother's eyes, Qin Lan was puzzled, yet also held a faint glimmer of hope.

"You can't see the system panel?"

Qin Yao asked instinctively.

"What panel?" His sister tilted her head.

"Oh, nothing..."

Qin Yao took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement. Looks like the system panel is visible only to me, the 'host.'

With that thought, Qin Yao tried to keep his voice steady. "Lanlan, don't be afraid. Brother is fine."

He took the bowl of thin rice soup from his sister's hands and drained it in one gulp.

Though it was cold and tasteless, it still poured a thread of warmth and strength into him.

"Qin Yao! Get your ass out here!"

Suddenly, nauseating curses and shouting came from outside the shack.

Bang!

The next second, the barred door was kicked open with brute force.

"Brat, do you still think you're some honored graduate who needs eight men and a grand sedan chair to invite you?"

The light streaming through the doorway illuminated Steward Wang's fleshy face.

This man was Wang Ji, steward of the Ding-Grade Mine Tunnel in the Iron Mountain Mining Area.

"Steward, is this the 'top scorer' you mentioned?"

A lackey beside Wang Ji asked with a fawning expression.

"Top scorer, my ass!"

Wang Ji sneered disdainfully. "He's a commoner mine slave now, lower than even you!"

At those words, the lackeys immediately swelled with superiority. "Heh, look at that skinny, useless little mutt. He probably won't last three days before he works himself to death in the pit!"

"He might as well finish himself off. Die early, reincarnate early, hahahaha..."

"Exactly. If I were you, I'd have slit my throat on the way here instead of suffering alive!"

"Enough."

Steward Wang raised a hand, and the lackeys fell silent as one.

He swaggered over to Qin Yao. "Brat, your grandfather knows what's what. He stuffed all that little nest egg of his into my hands, but...

"This mine is short on workers every moment of every day!

"For every extra day you lie collapsed in bed, that's one less day of work done.

"If the quota isn't met by the end of the month, I'm the one who gets chewed out!

"So stop playing dead and get your ass to work!"

Qin Yao lowered his head and clenched his teeth in secret, his heart full of hatred.

But he neither argued nor begged.

He knew that before these beasts, weakness and pleading would only invite even harsher trampling.

Before he could grow stronger with the help of the attribute panel, he had to endure!

"B-but we just..."

Unable to bear it, Qin Lan was about to argue her case.

But Qin Yao yanked her behind him.

The youth put on a numb face, as though all hope had died within him, and nodded. "Fine. I'll go now."

But what he thought was, The Grind Emperor System's core function is 'Skill Quantification.' It turns every effort into proficiency and helps me cultivate.

Then... 'mining' should count as a skill too, right?

Steward Wang had no idea what Qin Yao was thinking.

Seeing a former top scorer submit so meekly, he felt secretly delighted. At the same time, he decided there was no need to keep pressing his face into the dirt.

"Hmph, at least you know your place."

Steward Wang snorted smugly. "Go to Mine Tunnel Three in the T-Shaped Pit.

"There was a cave-in there in the middle of the night. It crushed some unlucky bastard to death, so you can fill the gap.

"Remember, if you don't mine enough, you don't eat!"

With that, the potbellied man left in a grand sweep with his lackeys.

From inside the shack, they could still faintly hear voices fading into the distance. "Pity the brat's sister is so skinny and so young. Otherwise, heh heh..."

Qin Lan's face turned deathly pale, and she clutched Qin Yao's clothes with all her strength.

"These bastards!!"

Fury blazed in Qin Yao's chest.

"Brother, you wore shackles the whole way here. You just arrived and haven't even rested before going down into the mine. You... you'll work yourself to death, sob sob..."

Once the men had gone far away, Qin Lan finally could not withstand the pressure any longer and burst into tears.

Qin Yao quickly gathered his sister into his arms. Feeling her tiny body tremble, the killing intent in his heart grew like wild grass running rampant.

He gently patted her back, and his low voice seemed to contain the weight of a thousand jun. "Lanlan, believe in Brother. I won't die.

"And you will definitely be alright!

"One day, Brother will make everyone who humiliated us pay the price!"