The ritual to improve fortune

Qin Tian was stopped. His beautiful eyes remained utterly calm as he looked at the man before him, and without the slightest hesitation, he struck.

His fist slammed into the obstructing man's lower abdomen, a faint surge of ink-black divine power stirring around it. With a crack, the man's spine snapped. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he crashed heavily onto the ground, throwing up a thick cloud of dust.

The burly leader's face darkened as he watched Qin Tian send his lackey flying. "You dare lay a hand on my men?"

The sixteen- or seventeen-year-old beside him flew into a humiliated rage. "You dare fight back? You're finished! Get him, boys! I want him bedridden for half a year!"

Just then, several more boys of fifteen or sixteen squeezed through the crowd. Any cultivator who dared resist had to be punished.

Otherwise, how were they supposed to meet their quotas?

Were they supposed to keep digging ore themselves?

Fear immediately appeared on the faces around them. Everyone hurriedly backed away, apparently recognizing these boys.

The boys stirred the divine power within them. Each was a capable fighter who had opened his Bitter Sea. Among a crowd of mortal Mine Slaves, they were transcendent beings.

Four or five charged together.

Then... dust surged upward, and the ground shook several times in succession. Qin Tian instantly sent them flying, scattering the specks of radiance clinging to their bodies.

They screamed, coughed up several large mouthfuls of blood, and convulsed.

Qin Tian's Bitter Sea churned. It was pitch-black as ink and looked deathly still, yet it was fully the size of a palm. A Bitter Sea of that scale should, by rights, have already broken through to the Life Spring Realm, but his remained lifeless.

Qin Tian had always suppressed his cultivation, refusing to let himself break through to the Life Spring Realm.

He used all his excess vital essence to expand his Bitter Sea, giving it a scale far beyond that of ordinary cultivators.

That Bitter Sea, far superior to most people's, erupted with formidable divine power. With one kick apiece, he sent them back.

"Looks like I'll have to deal with you myself!" The burly leader's expression instantly darkened as he looked at his lackeys sprawled on the ground. A streak of rainbow light appeared beneath his feet, lifting him off the ground and carrying him to the roof of the mine tunnel.

Ink-black divine power boiled, and a surge of power beyond the Bitter Sea level burst forth.

"Oh no! Little Qin, run!" The old man who had initially tried to dissuade Qin Tian hurriedly shouted, "Get outside! Once you're out there, the Yaoguang Holy Land will be watching. He won't dare do anything to you!"

"That child's finished. How could a Bitter Sea cultivator possibly defeat a great cultivator of the Life Spring Realm?"

The onlookers raised their heads, then turned away, seemingly unable to bear watching what would happen next.

Light flashed. The burly man lunged forward like a phantom, his unbelievable speed utterly at odds with his hulking appearance.

Ink-black divine power gathered around his fingers and palm as he slashed at Qin Tian's neck like a blade.

He had not used his full strength. In his eyes, this knife-hand strike was enough to knock Qin Tian down and leave him half-dead.

Qin Tian's eyes widened. A trace of silver gradually emerged in his formerly black pupils, and countless streams of light flickered in his left eye as time accelerated within it.

The burly man's movements, expressions, and circulation of divine power over the next few seconds all appeared before Qin Tian's eyes.

Armed with that knowledge of the future, Qin Tian reacted swiftly, stepping sideways and back twice to evade the attack with effortless ease.

Then, with a thump, he caught the burly man's hand.

"Let go!"

Though surprised that Qin Tian had caught his attack, the burly man did not believe the boy could pose any threat. He immediately tried to fling Qin Tian away with brute force.

Yet things defied his expectations once again. His hand felt as though it had been imprisoned beneath the Primordial Divine Mountain. He could not shake free at all.

"I won't. What are you going to do about it?"

After catching that hand, Qin Tian handled the heavy man as though he weighed nothing. As if swinging an inflatable dummy, he whipped him up and slammed him back and forth against the ground.

Boom, boom, boom!

Dust roiled, and a human-shaped pit appeared on either side of Qin Tian.

With so much source at his disposal, Qin Tian might have been cautious about deliberately raising his cultivation realm, but that did not mean he neglected its other uses, such as strengthening his physique with the vital essence it contained.

Though he was still far inferior to a Sacred Body or divine body, there was already a clear gulf between him and an ordinary physique.

"Tch. What a weak Life Spring cultivator!" Qin Tian sneered.

"You're courting death!" The Life Spring Burly Man erupted in fury. Two cold gleams shot from his eyes as he stared at Qin Tian as though looking at a corpse.

He drew a small, archaic seal from his Bitter Sea. It shone brilliantly, emerald-green radiance flowing around it.

In an instant, the small seal flew out and rapidly expanded, bearing down on Qin Tian. The archaic divine seal carried an immense, crushing pressure.

"Heavens! That's a legendary artifact!"

An onlooker said, "Unbelievable. Even some cultivators in the grotto-heavens can't hammer their divine patterns into an artifact."

Facing the ancient seal the size of a small mountain, Qin Tian raised his arms as though holding up the heavens and braced it overhead. Beneath that tremendous pressure, he felt as though a mountain had descended upon him. The earth cracked underfoot, and his legs sank deep into it.

"Heavens! He actually held it up!"

"A Bitter Sea cultivator withstood an artifact? That's simply unbelievable!" an onlooker exclaimed.

A pecking match between weaklings was underway...

"I'm not done yet!" The burly man sneered repeatedly.

His Life Spring churned, and a pitch-black flying sword flew out. Rather than a sword, it looked more like an iron plate. Clearly, this artifact had yet to be properly forged.

Still, judging by the rainbow radiance clinging to the "sword," this "artifact" remained dangerous. That radiance was dark and profound, capable of slicing through iron like mud.

The flying sword wheeled through the air and shot toward Qin Tian at tremendous speed.

Qin Tian lowered his head, looking as though the palace-sized ancient seal had pressed the breath out of him. In truth, he was merely concealing certain unusual phenomena.

His own figure appeared reflected in his eyes. A hazy fragment of cosmic light carried a temporal shadow of himself onto his body, and his divine power surged beyond the limits of the Bitter Sea.

"Get up!" Qin Tian roared.

With strength to uproot mountains and spirit to overshadow the world, Qin Tian actually overturned that enormous ancient seal.

Then he coldly watched the flying sword hurtling toward him. Divine radiance coated his leg, and with a kick through the air, he sent the sword flying.

Qin Tian drove off with both feet. Bolstered by threads of divine power, he moved like lightning, kicked the burly man to the ground, and pinned him beneath his body. His fists rained down on the man's radiant defenses, each blow booming like a drum.

Each punch surpassed the last, carrying the fury in his heart. At last, the protective divine radiance shattered, and his fists landed on flesh. The man's screams rang in time with the drumbeat of his blows.

Those who had been unable to bear watching Qin Tian die stared blankly at the unfolding scene.

What had happened? Why did this seem wrong? Why was the burly man the one lying on the ground?

Qin Tian let out a long, stale breath, feeling considerably lighter even in spirit. He snarled at the burly man, "If I ever catch you stealing source again, I'll beat you every time I see you!"

"Until I cripple you!"

"Hiss... we're both at the Bitter Sea level. How can the difference be so huge?" The little old man was astonished. The once-meek Little Qin seemed to have changed.

After three years, it seemed he still had not seen Qin Tian's true face.

Qin Tian walked out of the mine tunnel with his basket on his back.

"What does that have to do with me, anyway?"

The little old man shook his head, bent over, and laboriously hoisted his basket onto his back before stumbling after him.

Everyone stepped aside and lowered their heads, terrified that Qin Tian might notice them. In their eyes, this eleven- or twelve-year-old boy was far more dangerous than the burly Life Spring cultivator.

As he passed the basket of source stones, Qin Tian paused. Everyone thought he would take the entire basket as his spoils.

Qin Tian said coldly, "Take back your own source stones!"

Everyone froze briefly, then surged forward in a swarm.

"That's my source! That piece is mine!"

"What do you mean, yours? That's my source!"

"Line up! One at a time!"

Qin Tian's voice reached them, frightening everyone into hastily forming a line. Each person took only one piece of source.

Gradually, some whose source had not been stolen joined the line too. Before long, even the source the burly man had mined himself was taken.

Staring at the empty basket, the burly man covered his face, looking as aggrieved as a mistreated young wife. "No, that was my source!"

"Not anymore!"

With no other choice, the burly man could only turn around and take his lackeys back to mining.

The Yaoguang Holy Land was no charity. Though its rules prevented casual killing, anyone who failed to meet the daily quota would still be strung up and savagely beaten.

Qin Tian was simply lucky enough to finish his quota within eight hours every day.

The Life Spring Burly Man returned to the mine tunnel once more, drawing a burst of cheerful laughter. "Little Worm, what happened? Who beat you up like that?"

The Life Spring Burly Man said, "Hey, I accidentally banged into something."

"Haha, banged into something? Looks to me like the bird that stuck its head out got shot. Someone beat you up, didn't they?" someone mocked.

"You're only a Life Spring cultivator. Why pretend to be some big bad wolf? Got yourself beaten now, didn't you?"

Just then, an authoritative voice came from within the mine tunnel. "What's going on? We've only just arrived at Mine Tunnel A, and someone already dares bully our people?"

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

The newcomer was exceptionally tall, even more heavily built than the first burly Life Spring cultivator.

Divine light spread with every step he took. He was unmistakably an expert of the Divine Bridge Realm.

A cold gleam flickered in the burly Divine Bridge cultivator's eyes. "Looks like we need to teach this bunch of old, weak, sick, and crippled wretches some rules."

The atmosphere immediately grew heavy.

Just then, a man who looked like a steward happened to patrol past. He immediately barked, "Hey! What are you lot gathering here for? Get back to work!"

The men who had looked so imposing a moment earlier instantly scattered like startled birds and beasts, picking up their hoes and diligently setting to work.

However domineering they were, they did not dare defy the Yaoguang Holy Land.

Qin Tian, however, was already planning how to resist the Yaoguang Holy Land. Simply escaping the mine was far from all he wanted.

After imprisoning him for so long, they ought to pay some price.

Elsewhere, Master Qin, exhausted after a day's work... Qin Tian strode out of the source mine tunnel.

The Yaoguang Mirror hovering high above released a hazy sacred light, piercing through space and illuminating the human body secret realms.

Qin Tian's eyes trembled slightly, and time stood still at that moment.

The sacred light released by the Yaoguang Mirror could illuminate space, but it could not penetrate time. Qin Tian placed his temporal-spatial realm within the space of the previous second. In the present second, he carried nothing, so naturally the mirror revealed nothing.

Only after walking far away did Qin Tian breathe a sigh of relief.

Just then.

"Time to collect your wages!" a knight dressed like a steward shouted. Bolstered by divine power, his voice vibrated through the air and spread throughout the mining district.

The next instant, figures stirred. Mine Slaves emerged from their stone huts one after another and quickly surrounded the steward.

Yes, even Mine Slaves received wages, paid once every month.

Their so-called wages came in small jade bottles filled with source liquid, something similar to the hundred herb liquid Ye Fan drank in the original story.

This source liquid was converted from source stones and contained their vital essence, though a single source stone weighing one jin could yield several thousand bottles.

Still, for cultivators who had only just opened their Bitter Seas, it provided considerable nourishment and was even more effective than hundred herb liquid.

Anyone who completed a month's quota received thirty bottles at once. If the source they obtained that month was sufficiently high-quality, their compensation would be increased accordingly.

This greatly encouraged the Mine Slaves' enthusiasm while supplying the Yaoguang Holy Land with plenty of rank-and-file troops.

Qin Tian could not help sighing. "As expected of a great power that has stood upon this land for nearly two hundred thousand years."

"Even without being baptized by capitalism, they've discovered similar ways to squeeze their beasts of burden dry."

For nearly two hundred thousand years, it had watched storms rise and fall, seas dry up and rocks crumble. Countless powers and outstanding figures had taken the stage in turn, yet the Yaoguang Holy Land still stood there.

Having seen enough, it naturally understood enough. Methods for controlling subordinates were certainly not lacking.

Though Qin Tian had collected all the heterogeneous source, divine source, and similar materials in his temporal-spatial realm.

Thanks to his good luck, every piece of ordinary source he mined was of superb quality, without a single flaw. Thus, he received a full hundred and thirty bottles of source liquid at once.

Holding that heap of source liquid, Qin Tian broke into a brilliant smile.

"My wages are here. Now I can openly buy the supplies for the ritual."

Wherever there were people, there was a world of rivalries, and that world was not merely about fighting and killing. It also involved favors and social dealings.

Some outside cultivators with connections to the mining overseers had reached an agreement with the mine, allowing them to purchase supplies outside and establish a temporary little shop.

They entered the mining district at regular, appointed times to conduct a little business.

Whenever the mine distributed source liquid, some people invariably came here to spend a little and wash away a month's exhaustion. As for cultivation? That could wait until another day!

Qin Tian watched the Mine Slaves rubbing their hands together. After handing over their source liquid, they eagerly entered the stone hut, from which enticing sounds soon emerged.

Qin Tian remained expressionless. There were only so many things that could entice men to spend.

The proprietor, who was counting source liquid, looked up and teased, "Young Qin, you're growing up too. Want to go inside and enjoy yourself?"

Qin Tian shook his head without expression. "No need. Where's what I ordered?"

The proprietor looked puzzled. "I really don't understand. Instead of using your source liquid to cultivate or enjoy yourself, you trade it for this stuff?"

"Can't understand it!"

Qin Tian said nothing. These were crucial supplies for his ritual.

When he had first been sold to the Yaoguang mining district, Qin Tian had desperately wanted to escape.

Unfortunately, having only just opened his Bitter Sea, how could he escape such a heavily guarded mine?

Before he could even run, he was discovered and thrown straight into a dark cell for three full days and nights.

After leaving that dark cell, Qin Tian swore an oath. He would become stronger-stronger than anyone else.

Qin Tian pondered day and night, reviewing the plot he knew, until he finally thought of something that might improve his aptitude: the power of faith.

The power of faith worked both ways. Not only could it benefit the object of worship, but it could also return strength to the faithful.

Thoughts held steadfast would inevitably find an echo. When the power of thought gathered, it could even refine falsehood into reality.

On that basis, he had devised a ritual to communicate with a source of faith and receive its nourishment in return, indirectly improving his own fortune.

What Qin Tian was buying was the central component of that ritual.

It was also the key to why, over these years, Qin Tian could obtain heterogeneous source or divine source whenever he went down into the mine every so often.

What did a mere hundred bottles of source liquid matter in exchange?

"Kid, I heard you beat up those newcomers. Well done." The proprietor spoke casually. He looked to be in his forties, particularly plump and prosperous, with a perpetual smile.

"You've done our Mining District A proud!"

"I'll give you twenty percent off this time."

As he spoke, he handed Qin Tian a large bottle.

Qin Tian reminded him, "The amount of energy doesn't matter, as long as it tastes good."

"Don't worry, I remember!" The proprietor waved his hand.

"What we make tastes absolutely first-rate. Even the Desolate Ancient Families praise it after trying it."

Qin Tian said nothing. He opened the bottle and brought it to his nose. A milky fragrance washed over him, utterly intoxicating.

At that scent, Qin Tian finally cracked a smile.

"Not bad. Premium quality!"

That was his verdict, honed through all his years of tasting beast milk.

The shopkeeper looked at Qin Tian's blissful smile and curled his lip. "You're already this big. Why are you still drinking that stuff?"

A worker behind him, whose job was hauling goods, laughed. "Boss, young Qin is only twelve. Maybe he really hasn't been weaned yet!"

"He even invented a god that doesn't exist just to give himself a perfectly respectable excuse to drink milk."

Those words drew a chorus of laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Humiliated, Qin Tian flew into a rage and argued, "This really is an offering for the god I worship! You don't understand a thing. Only people who drink beast milk are truly strong."

Besides, he only drank it because he didn't want to waste the supplies offered to the god. What was wrong with being frugal?

For a moment, the air was filled with merry laughter.

"Oh, give me a break. Drinking beast milk makes you stronger?"

The shopkeeper sneered dismissively. "You've been drinking beast milk all these years, and aren't you still just a Mine Slave?"

Qin Tian said nothing. He handed over the payment, took his goods, and turned to leave.

Counting the source liquid Qin Tian had handed him, the shopkeeper chuckled cheerfully. "Young Qin's money is so much easier to earn than those rough old men's. The more fools like him, the better."

Someone jeered, "Instead of cultivating properly, he trades his resources for beast milk?"

"And he claims he's worshipping some god? Can this god let him be reborn into a Desolate Ancient Family in the future, or what?"

Qin Tian had not gone far. Hearing this, he said, "You should come worship too. Maybe your luck will improve a little."

The others scoffed. "I'm not worshipping him. What's worth worshipping about a god who only knows how to drink beast milk?"

Qin Tian shook his head. I gave you a chance, but you're too useless to take it!

How could they know just how great and powerful the god they claimed only knew how to drink beast milk truly was?

He was a Dao Ancestor, a Path-End Immortal Emperor!