Choosing the Simplest is the True Way!

In the end, Jiang Beiran survived, and he also realized he had been duped, coming to terms with the fact that he had been lured to the Black Mine with a few empty promises.

He laughed at his own stupidity, but he refused to accept his fate, because he still had the system—he could still turn things around!

Although this system, which came with absolutely no instructions, was a huge pain, Jiang Beiran believed he had already figured out its quirks.

That was, when choosing a mission with good rewards, he had to approach it with utmost vigilance.

Take the earlier [Apprenticeship Mission] for example. Although that Black Robed Taoist was a conman and probably not even a real Taoist from the Blazing Fire Sect, the system's objective was simply to have him become the man's disciple. It never said anything about what he would learn afterward. A master who teaches martial arts is still a master, and a master who teaches trickery is still a master.

Realizing this, Jiang Beiran reflected bitterly. If he had figured it out sooner, he should have acted sharper and tactfully exposed the Black Robed Taoist's scheme in a roundabout way. Maybe then the Taoist wouldn't have sold him off to this Black Mine, but instead taken him along to swindle people across the land.

Instead, he had acted like a complete fool, believing every word the Black Robed Taoist said, even telling him that he was an orphan who had run away from home. Wasn't that practically begging to be cheated, with no strings attached?

Every time he thought about it, Jiang Beiran wanted to slap himself and lament that every drop of sweat he now shed mining was the water that had flooded his brain when he faced that Black Robed Taoist!

But he was different now! He understood that this system wasn't there to hand him freebies, so from now on, he would be cautious!

The opportunity came sooner than Jiang Beiran expected. In the second week of enduring all kinds of inhuman abuse, when he could finally sleep without his body aching too much to rest, he began planning his escape. At the same time, four options appeared before him.

[Option One: Use the opportunity of the overseers drinking and eating at noon to flee down the mountain. Completion Reward: Howling Moon Overlord Finger (Profound Grade Low Rank)]

[Option Two: While working in the mine, secretly dig a tunnel leading out of the mountain. Completion Reward: Purple-Gold Tiger Head Hook (Yellow Rank High Grade)]

[Option Three: Win over other fellow workers who also want to escape and discuss an escape plan together. Completion Reward: Lotus Armor (Yellow Low Grade)]

[Option Four: Just go to sleep. You still have to haul bricks tomorrow. Completion Reward: Random Basic Attribute Point +1]

Feeling confident again, Jiang Beiran immediately ruled out Option Four and began analyzing the other three.

Option One: The overseers did indeed get dead drunk at noon and wouldn't bother with the workers at all. It seemed like a viable path.

But Jiang Beiran had now learned the hard way that the reward was the most trustworthy thing. The words "Profound Grade Low Rank" instantly made him reject this option.

Through several choices, he had figured out the system's ranking system: from top to bottom, it should be Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow—since he had seen Earth, Black, and Yellow. Each grade was further divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower ranks.

Last time, the option to apprentice under the Black Robed Taoist only rewarded a Yellow Rank High Grade cultivation method, and it had nearly killed him. Now this one offered a higher Profound Grade Low Rank—he was truly afraid he'd have the guts to choose it but not the life to claim it.

Option Two's reward was on par with the difficulty of the Black Robed Taoist apprenticeship option, but the content itself struck Jiang Beiran as completely unreliable.

What kind of place was a mine? Every meter forward required installing several supports to prevent collapse. Secretly digging an escape tunnel? Even if he could avoid detection, he was terrified of being crushed to death halfway through.

That left Option Three, which seemed the most feasible. After a week of mining on the mountain, Jiang Beiran knew that almost everyone here had been tricked into coming, just like him, and they were all seething with resentment.

Moreover, the overseers didn't treat them like human beings. If they saw anyone pause for even a moment, they'd kick them without hesitation.

On top of that, with such grueling labor, the overseers only fed them twice a day—porridge as thin as water and buns as hard as iron. All the workers were already boiling with fury.

And the reward for this option was Yellow Low Grade, the worst possible, which meant the lowest difficulty. If he couldn't handle even this level of task, then what kind of transmigrator was he? He might as well find a block of tofu and smash his head against it until he died.

'I'll pick three!'

Having made his choice and activated the escape mission, Jiang Beiran immediately threw himself into preparing an uprising. He made full use of his transmigrator advantages, and a single line—"Are kings and nobles born with superior blood?!"—shook the fellow workers so much that they bowed to him one after another.

Then Jiang Beiran claimed that last night, emboldened by drink, he had slain a giant white serpent, and that night he dreamed of an old woman weeping, saying her son, the White Emperor Son, had been killed by the Red Emperor Son.

This wave of myth-making made the workers believe that Jiang Beiran was a reincarnated deity sent to save them, and they revered him all the more.

Watching his worker army grow larger, Jiang Beiran, sipping his thin porridge, laughed up at the sky. Sure enough, as long as he was prepared, a measly Yellow Low Grade task was as easy as pie.

Then the next day, he was reported.

The consequences went without saying. If the overseers hadn't wanted to torture Jiang Beiran more thoroughly to intimidate any other workers who might harbor similar thoughts, he would have been beaten to death on the very first night.

From then on, Jiang Beiran completely shut himself off. Whenever the system popped up with options, he always picked the last one that rewarded basic attribute points, never daring to touch any other option again.

This way, Jiang Beiran spent two very safe months. Aside from the fact that mining was still exhausting, nothing unexpected happened.

And so Jiang Beiran had another epiphany!

This system wasn't so much there to help him grow as it was to give him warnings. As long as he kept picking the simplest attribute point option, he could avoid all kinds of disasters.

This state of affairs continued until a sunny morning. Jiang Beiran got up and was about to head to the work site when he heard a violent explosion!

At the same time, three options appeared before him.

[Option One: Stay in the hut and don't move. Completion Reward: Rolling Cloud Overlord Palm (Yellow Rank High Grade)]

[Option Two: Help put out the fire. Completion Reward: Death Knell Great Spear (Yellow Low Grade)]

[Option Three: Escape in the chaos. Completion Reward: Random Basic Skill Point +1]

'Huh!? This time the options aren't following the usual pattern.'

Normally, in such utter chaos, choosing to escape would be the most foolish move. After all, the overseers weren't stupid—they knew someone would try to flee in the confusion, so they would definitely station people halfway up the mountain or at the foot. If caught, even if he wasn't killed, he'd be in for a severe beating.

But over the past two months, Jiang Beiran had endured all kinds of torment and harassment. Without the system's various option prompts, he might have died long ago. So this time, he still chose to trust the system!

"I'll pick three!"