Sending You to the Western Paradise

The miners had almost no rest time; they could only catch their breath briefly during mealtimes at most.

At other times, these spiritual ores must be mined continuously.

To ensure the schedule was maintained, the guards were divided into two shifts: one during the day and another at night.

But such high intensity is too much for even the guards, let alone the miners who work non-stop.

While Wen Heyu and the others were still working hard, the guards gathered together and began to complain:

"The higher-ups are getting increasingly impatient these past few days, as if they absolutely want us to mine this entire spirit mine within these few months. With just a few people, even if we didn't eat or drink, we couldn't possibly finish mining such a large mine!"

"That's right!" another guard chimed in. "The higher-ups are pressuring us, and our foreman's temper is getting worse and worse. These past few days, he's not only been taking his anger out on the miners, but he's also been cursing at us for the slightest thing!"

His words reminded everyone of the short guard who had been accidentally injured; his face was still grim.

One of them patted the short miner on the shoulder and comforted him, "Don't be sad. The boss said he'll find you some good ointment in a few days; it'll definitely get rid of this scar on your face!"

The short man forced a smile at them, but he knew perfectly well that the guard chief was unwilling to use such good medicine on himself. His face was far from healed.

Thinking of this, the short man slowly looked down at the thin figure below, secretly wondering when he could leave a few scars on the female cultivator's face!

The short man's gaze wasn't subtle; Wen Heyu noticed it immediately.

He moved closer to the female cultivator and whispered a warning, "Be careful. I think that guard has memorized your name. He might attack you at any moment. You'd better stick close to us these next few days!"

"By the way, my name is Wen Heyu. How shall I address you, fellow Daoist?"

When the female cultivator heard his name, she paused almost imperceptibly, but quickly concealed her unease.

She nodded to Wen Heyu: "Just call me Sang Ye. Thank you for reminding me, I'll be careful."

The implication was that they didn't want to involve Wen Heyu.

Wen Heyu frowned, wanting to say a few more words of advice to the female cultivator, telling her not to be stubborn.

However, the image of the sharp glare the female cultivator had given him when they locked eyes flashed through his mind. For some reason, Wen Heyu suddenly felt that even if she clashed with that guard, it might not be such a bad thing.

Perhaps the one who will suffer in the end is the guard?

The thought suddenly popped into Wen Heyu's mind, and he silently swallowed back the words of advice.

The female cultivator named Sang Ye continued to tap the Spirit Stone ore, her movements clumsy but her focus was extremely earnest.

Those present only saw the new female correctional officer working diligently, completely unaware that her mind was elsewhere.

"I've investigated. Only a quarter of this Spirit Stone mine has been mined so far. The outer area only contains low-grade Spirit Stone, but there are probably quite a few Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone inside." Jiang Zhuoxue's voice echoed in her mind. Sang Ying closed her eyes and suppressed the shock in her heart.

I initially thought it was just a low-grade or medium-grade Spirit Stone mine, but according to Jiang Zhuoxue, it's probably at least a high-grade Spirit Stone mine.

Spirit veins are rare to begin with, and high-quality veins are even rarer.

If this mine is indeed seized by someone else, the Jimo Household will suffer a significant loss.

"Putting that aside for now, have you found out how many guards are here?" Sang Ying was brought in blindfolded. She only felt as if she had stepped into several layers of formations, but she didn't have time to count the number of guards.

Fortunately, she had another pair of eyes, which belonged to Jiang Zhuoxue, who could merge with the earth.

Black dragons are earth-elemental Dragon Race, possessing a natural ability to control the land.

As soon as he was brought here with Sang Ying, he quietly left Sang Ying and blended into the mine. Nothing in the entire mine escaped his eyes.

"There are quite a few guards here. Besides the leader who is usually nowhere to be seen, there are thirty guards patrolling day and night. Among them, there are no fewer than ten Golden Core cultivators. You alone probably can't take them all down." Jiang Zhuoxue's words were very straightforward.

This amount also exceeded Sang Ying's expectations; she hadn't expected the other party to be so willing to spend so much. The people responsible for kidnapping were already at the Nascent Soul Realm; she had thought the guards' cultivation levels wouldn't be too high.

After a moment's thought, Sang Ying came up with a plan. "I'll act according to the circumstances. You just need to keep an eye on those Golden Core Realm for me."

She can always deal with them one by one when the opportunity arises.

Sang Ying's impolite attitude made Jiang Zhuoxue laugh, "I'm Devil Dragon, you think you can ask a universally hated demon to help you save people? I won't do it if there's no benefit to it!"

Sang Ying was silent for a moment, then quickly replied, "Senior, do you know why chefs can make delicious dishes?"

"... Is the cook good?" His tone was full of uncertainty.

Sang Ying denied it. "It's because the cook is in a good mood when he's cooking that the food tastes good. But if the cook is in a bad mood, then..."

"Stop talking, I agree!" Jiang Zhuoxue didn't give her a chance to finish speaking.

Sang Ying smiled slightly, very pleased with his pragmatism.

Even cultivators get tired. Although the guards were eager to continue mining, they were afraid of exhausting everyone and not being able to find replacement miners. So, during dinner, everyone was given an extra half hour of rest.

Ordinary mortals can even take a short nap.

Taking this opportunity, Sang Ying asked if she needed to use the restroom.

The guard initially disagreed and even wanted to whip her again.

But the short guard who was injured stopped him, saying, "Let her go. I'll take her; she'll be fine."

The guards immediately understood the short man's intention and readily agreed.

One of them added a reminder: "Liu San, don't kill him. He needs to be alive to continue mining!"

So that man's Liu San!

Sang Ying secretly memorized the name, and under the complicated gazes of the crowd, she followed the guard named Liu San out of the mine.

Cultivators cultivate their spirit, thus avoiding the trouble of the cycle of food and drink. But now that they eat ordinary porridge just like mortals, they inevitably have to make the embarrassing trip to the outhouse.

To avoid the stench bothering them, the guards built them a latrine, although it looked dilapidated and quite dangerous.

The outhouse was built in another mine shaft that had already been cleared out; no one ever came here on weekdays, so it was quite quiet and secluded.

Once he was sure no one was around, Liu San finally revealed his ferocious expression.

He turned around abruptly, his gloomy gaze fixed on Sang Ying, his eyes filled with resentment.

Upon seeing this, Sang Ying instinctively tensed up, her voice trembling. "What is the guard doing? Wasn't he taking me to the latrine?"

"Ha!" He sneered, the scars on his face growing even uglier. "I'm sending you to your death!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he lunged at Sang Ying, who seemed to be stunned and didn't move an inch.

Liu San felt even more smug, and the next second his hand had already firmly gripped the female cultivator's neck.