Big Spender

"Gold-Splitting Town, Li Yi, submitted 1,132 pounds of ore... promoted to second place!"

"Gold-Splitting Town, Zhuang Beiluo, submitted 1,488 pounds of ore... promoted to first place!"

Jiang Ran took it all in.

Zhuang Beiluo...

That "Lord Zhuang" Zhao Xiaowei had mentioned had truly claimed the top spot.

A full 1,488 pounds of Vermilion Dense Iron ore—he had completed the task by nearly dozens of times, equivalent to the total ore submitted by dozens of ordinary miners!

Even Jiang Ran, with his high-tech spirit-energy drill, had mined only a little over two thousand pounds of ore.

"I wonder how many people that bastard harmed." Jiang Ran shook his head.

"Silence!"

The Daoist master from the Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect spoke.

His clear shout spread across the entire area, seemingly carrying a peculiar Dao resonance.

Everyone present fell silent at the same moment. Not a sound could be heard.

"This..." Jiang Ran's eyes flickered with surprise.

"Is this the power of Dao Initiation?"

Just then, he had felt an unprecedented force.

It had not forcibly made people "shut up," but somehow made them lose the desire to continue speaking.

That sensation was far too extraordinary, even more impressive than the power of the teachers at Pingjiang No. 1 High School.

The Daoist master of the Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect made a beckoning gesture, and the ripples of water on the open ground rapidly vanished and gathered together.

They condensed into a strand of blue spiritual light, transforming into an exquisite bracelet that landed in the Daoist master's palm.

"Very good..." The Daoist master looked pleased as he tucked the bracelet into his robe.

"Ten thousand people mined ore, yet fewer than one in ten completed their work."

"Very good!"

"Qin Shuang, Li Yi, Zhuang Beiluo, you three will remain behind to listen to the scriptures."

"Yes!" The three below hurried forward, delighted.

By the rules, the rankings were not supposed to be finalized until several months later.

But this Daoist master was clearly in a good mood today, so there should be some additional benefits.

"Ying Xuan, come here."

"Your subordinate is here."

The Daoist master handed over the roster and casually ordered, "Erase the names of those whose work remains unfinished."

"Your subordinate accepts the order!"

Li Yi, Zhuang Beiluo, and Qin Shuang followed the Daoist master away on the wind, vanishing in an instant.

As for the green-robed immortal called Ying Xuan...

He frowned and quickly opened the roster.

[Little River Village, Mo Fan, submitted sixteen pounds of ore, work quota not met.]

Before the horrified eyes of the crowd, the green-robed immortal drew a stroke across the roster.

Mo Fan's name disappeared.

Almost at the very same instant.

A tall, thin young man among the crowd below suddenly froze stiff.

Bang!

With a muffled explosion, his body burst apart into a dense mist of blood.

As though drawn by some force, the blood mist surged rapidly before silently sinking into the roster in the green-robed immortal's hand.

The entire area fell deathly silent. No one dared make the slightest sound.

"This..." Jiang Ran's heart trembled violently.

After being in the Grand Ruins Realm for so long, this was the first time he had truly experienced what it meant for life and death to hang in the balance.

With a single stroke, a name had been erased—and so had a life.

What concerned him now was no longer how powerful Qi Assimilation immortals were.

Rather...

"Did I get something wrong?" Jiang Ran felt a little lightheaded.

"Could this damned Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect not be a righteous immortal sect at all?"

There were all sorts of rumors in the streets, and he had considered what might happen to those who failed to complete their tasks.

Corporal punishment, criminal punishment, or even execution.

But he had never imagined that death would come in such a miserable manner.

More importantly, that cloud of blood mist had been completely absorbed by the roster.

Clearly, the blood mist was useful.

None of this matched Jiang Ran's idea of how a righteous immortal sect should behave.

It was more like... a demonic sect!

"I'm screwed. Did I join a nest of villains?" Jiang Ran shuddered.

He did not believe righteous immortal sects were necessarily all that noble.

But righteous sects at least bore the name of justice. On the surface, they would certainly follow rules and possess some degree of principle.

Demonic sects were different.

Their vile reputation was well known. Everyone knew that demonic sects would stop at nothing.

Within a demonic sect, anyone could be an enemy!

The young man who had just exploded to death was only the first.

Then came a second, a third, a fourth...

The green-robed immortal continued drawing strokes across the roster, and countless names vanished.

People below kept exploding to death.

Innumerable clusters of blood mist swarmed toward the book.

The roster continuously absorbed the essence of the blood mist, faintly emitting a smooth crimson glow as if it had been nourished.

"Steady yourself. Go back first and think about it later."

Jiang Ran steadied his thoughts and retreated with the main group, returning to the mining grounds.

Everyone scattered, each looking for a suitable mine shaft.

The mining assignment could last as little as two or three months, or as long as two years or even longer.

The heavy quota of sixty pounds every half month would have to continue for a long time.

This was the choice of most people: bear the burden and gamble on the possibility of Qi-Consuming Initiation.

In an unnoticed corner.

Jiang Ran's figure vanished into the shadows.

Through Chaos Space, he crossed the Cross-Boundary Gate in a single step.

With another lift of his hand, he had already returned to Pingjiang.

"I'm back... It really is better to be back!" Jiang Ran let out a long breath.

He poured himself a cup of water and drained it in one gulp, only then easing the shock in his heart.

It was too outrageous, too terrifying.

The strength of Qi Assimilation cultivators far surpassed his imagination.

The method of casually erasing lives with a stroke of a pen, the ruthless brutality of wiping out hundreds or thousands of people at will...

Such darkness had never existed in Pingjiang!

Was this simply the atmosphere of the Great Ruins Immortal Sect, or was the Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect fundamentally a complete demonic sect?

Jiang Ran did not know.

But one thing was certain: he was afraid.

Or rather than fear, it was more accurate to call it worry.

He had always considered himself an ordinary citizen of Pingjiang. Going to the Grand Ruins Realm was merely to gather resources, seek cultivation methods, and pursue benefits for himself.

But now, things seemed to have become somewhat different.

If the Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect truly was a demonic sect, then as someone within it, he could encounter danger at any moment.

Even if he did nothing, he could still be casually crushed to death by some mad high-ranking figure.

After all... to those lofty figures, lower cultivators could be disciples, or they could be resources.

The green-robed immortal gathering blood mist today was the best proof.

"The Hundred-Yue Immortal Sect's reputation is fairly decent. It has never committed atrocities like massacring cities or exterminating clans."

Jiang Ran considered carefully. "For now, as long as I don't make a mistake, I'm unlikely to face a calamity that destroys me."

"I still have to mine ore, but I must keep a low profile and avoid drawing attention."

"Let's take a few days off first..."

He quickly made his decision. He would go to school first and relax.

Of course, there was another important matter to handle after returning to Pingjiang.

Half a day later.

Downtown Pingjiang City.

Jiang Ran once again appeared before Xianye Department Store Building.

He straightened his collar and strode through the entrance with confidence.

It was still Lin's Ore Language, still an ore appraisal.

"Spirit-Source Grade eighteen, sir. If you have more ore, our store can purchase all of it at market price." The clerk was extremely polite.

Though Grade Eighteen ore was not particularly high-end, it still counted as a decent sale.

Jiang Ran said nothing and merely raised two fingers.

"Two pieces? No problem!" The clerk readily agreed.