In the dark and damp mine tunnel, Lu Ye carried a mining basket on his back and a pickaxe in his hand as he walked forward step by step.
The young man's expression was a little sad. His eyes were focused on the empty space in front of him as if he was staring at something.
To outsiders, there was nothing in front of Lu Ye, but in fact, in the young man's vision, he could see a translucent shadow.
It was like the shadow of a tree. It was gray and unreal, with lush branches and leaves. The branches split from one-third of the tree to the left and right, supporting a semicircular canopy.
It has been more than a year since he came to this world called Nine Regions. Lu Ye still hasn't figured out what this thing is. He only knows that when his attention is focused enough, this shadow tree will appear in his field of vision, and no one will notice it at all.
"What a sad life." The young man sighed.
A year ago, he suddenly woke up in this strange world. Before he could familiarize himself with the environment, the force he was in was attacked by a group of bandits. Many people were killed. He and some other young men and women became captives of the bandits. Then they were sent to this mine and became lowly miner slaves.
Afterward, he learned from the scattered conversations of others that the force he was in belonged to the Haotian Alliance, a sect called the Black Heaven Sect.
The sect's name sounded cool and domineering, but it was actually just a small sect.
The one who attacked the Black Heaven Sect was the Evil Moon Valley under the Myriad Demons Ridge.
The Haotian Alliance and the Myriad Demons Ridge were the two major camp organizations in this world. Both were formed by the union of countless large and small forces. They fought against each other with the intention of completely destroying each other. It was said that this had been going on for hundreds of years.
In Lu Ye's view, such a battle was simply a confrontation between the lawful camp and the evil camp. He was just accidentally involved in such a confrontation.
Over the years, the flames of war had been raging in the Nine States. Every year, small forces like the Black Heaven Sect would be uprooted, but soon more forces would spring up like bamboo shoots after the rain and occupy various territories, making the situation even more chaotic.
"So be it …" Lu Ye comforted himself. Compared to those who were killed, at least he was still alive.
Being able to survive was not because he had any special skills, but because the Evil Moon Valley needed some handymen to do their jobs. A young man like Lu Ye, who had no cultivation, was undoubtedly the best choice.
In fact, the mine slaves in this vein were not only from the Black Heaven Sect but also from other small clans and sects.
The Evil Moon Valley was not weak. Over the years, it had conquered a lot of territories. Naturally, the original forces in these territories had been destroyed. Some of the available forces were sent to various places by the Evil Moon Valley.
These people all had one thing in common, which was that they had not yet been enlightened and had no cultivation, so they were easy to control.
In the Nine Regions, there was a saying that it was difficult for demons to transform if they didn't open their apertures, and it was difficult for humans to cultivate if they didn't open their apertures.
If you want to cultivate, you need to open your spiritual cavities. Only by opening your spiritual cavities can you be qualified to cultivate.
Opening spiritual cavities was not a simple matter. Among ordinary people, only around one in a hundred would be able to open their spiritual cavities after going through systematic training. If one came from a cultivation clan or sect and had the guidance of an elder, the chances would be higher.
Lu Ye had not been able to open his spiritual cavities, so he could only make a living by mining in this dim mine tunnel.
However, it was not that there was no way out for the mine slaves. If they could successfully open their spiritual cavities and find the person in charge to report, they would have the opportunity to participate in an assessment. If they passed the assessment, they could become a disciple of the Evil Moon Valley.
However, there were very few mine slaves who could open their spiritual cavities. In this dim environment, they worked all day and did not even have enough to eat. How could they open their spiritual cavities?
Therefore, basically 99% of the mine slaves had already accepted their fate. They worked hard every day just to have a full meal.
Lu Ye had no sense of belonging to the Black Heaven Sect. After all, the Black Heaven Sect had been destroyed when he had just arrived in this world. He did not know anyone in the sect.
He also did not want to become a disciple of the Evil Moon Valley. This was not a decent force. Just by hearing the name, it gave people a sense of evil. Sooner or later, it would be over.
However, he could not stay here as a mine slave for the rest of his life. That would be inappropriate. After all, he was an elite of the new era. If he did not have a dream, he would be no different from a salted fish.
Therefore, he had been working hard to open his spiritual cavities for the past year. He originally thought that only he could see the shadow tree, which could provide him with some wonderful help. However, until now, the shadow tree was still just a shadow. Not only did it not help him, but it also sometimes affected his vision.
Lu Ye seriously doubted that there was something wrong with his eyes.
After turning a corner, a faint light appeared in the distance. It was one of the exits of the mine tunnel.
Today's harvest was good. If he turned in the ore in the mining basket, he should be able to get three contribution points. Including the points he had accumulated in the past few days, he had about twelve points. If he used two points to exchange for two steamed buns, the remaining ten points would be just enough to exchange for a Qi and Blood Pill.
The Qi and Blood Pill was a very low-level pill. It was not an aid to open the spiritual cavities. However, to open the spiritual cavities, one must have abundant Qi and blood. Although the Qi and Blood Pill was low-level, it was suitable for people like Lu Ye who had not opened his spiritual cavities.
The reason why Evil Moon Valley was willing to give out the Qi and Blood Pill was not because they were kind-hearted. It was because they were well-versed in the ways of the human heart. The cheapest and low-level pill could motivate people with hope to mine harder.
For example, Lu Ye … was very hardworking every day.
When he was about three hundred feet away from the exit of the mine tunnel, Lu Ye's eyes inadvertently glanced at a corner on the left in front of him. There was a huge rock there.
He did not stop and continued to walk forward. When he was about ten feet away, he put down the mining basket on his back and tightened his grip on the pickaxe in his hand. Then, he took out a medium-sized rock from the basket and weighed it in his hand.
The next moment, he ran toward the huge rock. When he was close to the rock, he slid sideways and stepped on the rock wall of the mine tunnel. His whole body swooped down behind the huge rock like a vigorous cheetah with the help of the rebound force.
Two figures were half-squatting behind the huge rock, using the rock as cover. They did not expect that someone would discover them.
When they heard the movement and saw Lu Ye, it was too late to get up.
Under the horrified gaze of the two men, Lu Ye raised his hand and threw the ore in his hand. It hit the bridge of one of the men's nose. The man immediately screamed and fell to the ground on his back, blood flowing from his face.
Lu Ye threw the pickaxe in his other hand again, but he did not hit the second man. The man's reaction was good and he tilted his head to avoid it.
However, Lu Ye had already rushed in front of him and kicked him in the lower abdomen. The man's face was filled with pain. He fell to his knees and vomited a mouthful of acid.
Lu Ye stepped forward and grabbed the man's hair with one hand. When he saw the man's face, he sneered, "I was wondering who it was. It's you two brothers!"
He knew these two men. They were disciples of the Liu Clan. After the Liu Clan's territory was captured by Evil Moon Valley, some of the younger disciples of the Liu Clan were sent here to serve as mining slaves.
Strictly speaking, Lu Ye and the Liu Clan's brothers were in the same boat.
"Didn't I tell you not to let me see you again? Otherwise, I'll kill you!" As Lu Ye spoke, he picked up a stone from the ground and smashed it down.
This hit was not light. The second brother of the Liu Clan only grunted and was directly knocked out.
Lu Ye walked towards the eldest brother Liu, who was injured by him before.
Big Boss Liu's forehead was bruised, and his vision was blurred by blood. He could vaguely see Lu Ye walking toward him. He was so scared that he scrambled to crawl. "Spare us, we didn't know it was you. We thought it was someone else … Spare us!"
The Liu Clan's brothers sneakily ambushed in front of the mine's exit. Naturally, they did not have good intentions.
Before these two were caught, they were both pampered people. Even if they became mining slaves, they were not willing to suffer. However, mining slaves were lowly. The people of Evil Moon Valley did not treat mining slaves as human beings. If they did not have ore to exchange for contribution points, they could not exchange it for food.
Therefore, the two brothers often squatted in front of the mine's exit and robbed the lone mining slaves. Many people were unlucky because of this. Not only were the ores that they worked hard to mine robbed, but they were also beaten half to death.
The last time they wanted to rob Lu Ye, they were no match for him and were taught a lesson.
Unexpectedly, in just a few days, they met the two brothers again.
The same rice could feed a hundred different kinds of people. Among the mining slaves, there were lazy people like the Liu Clan's brothers and people with dreams like Lu Ye.
Over the past year, the contribution points that Lu Ye exchanged from the ore, in addition to ensuring his daily food and clothing, were all exchanged for Vitality Pills.
In total, he had taken no less than thirty Vitality Pills.
This made Lu Ye's physique stronger than most of the mining slaves. Although his body was not strong, the strength contained in his body was better than that of ordinary people.
Dealing with two lazy mining slaves was naturally a piece of cake.
Boss Liu was still begging for mercy, but Lu Ye just pretended not to hear. He grabbed his hair, raised the stone in his other hand, and smashed it down.
In more than a year of working as a mining slave, Lu Ye had seen too many tragedies and had long understood that in this man-eat-man world, any mercy and sympathy were useless.
The mining slaves were not harmonious. Mining slaves from different forces were destined to be unable to unite. For a piece of good ore, the mining slaves often fought until their heads bled.
People died in the mine every day. Every time you walked a distance, you could see a skeleton scattered on the ground.
Many mining slaves starved to death because they were robbed.
Boss Liu fell to the ground.
Lu Ye picked up his pickaxe, put the mining basket on his back again, and stepped toward the exit. He did not kill the Liu Clan's brothers, not because he was soft-hearted, but because injured mining slaves generally did not live long here.
He had only taken a few steps when a person suddenly rushed in from the exit in a panic.
"Get out of my way!" The man shouted in a low voice and slapped Lu Ye.
At this moment, Lu Ye felt a chill all over his body, because he saw a light blue light flowing through the palm of the other party.
That was the light of spiritual power. In other words, the one who attacked him was a cultivator!
Only by opening the spiritual cavities can one be qualified to cultivate, and only then can one be qualified to be called a cultivator.
A cultivator's spiritual energy was an extremely mystical power. Lu Ye once saw a cultivator from the Evil Moon Valley make a move. Although it wasn't too powerful, that person only needed to lightly slap his palm to shatter a piece of ore. It was because of this mystical scene that Lu Ye made up his mind to open his spiritual cavities and become a cultivator.
He also secretly estimated that even the cultivator with the lowest cultivation in the Evil Moon Valley could easily beat ten of him.
So when he realized that the one who attacked him was a cultivator, Lu Ye knew that he was in big trouble.
At the critical moment of life and death, he stopped abruptly and jumped back.
His chest was numb, and the sound of bones breaking was heard. Lu Ye flew backward and fell to the ground.
The severe pain made his mind clear a lot. After realizing that he was still alive, he immediately got up.
"Hey!" The cultivator who attacked was a little surprised. Although he did not use his full strength and just casually slapped, it should not be something that the slave miner could withstand.
With the help of the dim light, he saw the face of the slave miner and blurted out, "Lu Ye?"
At this moment, Lu Ye had already turned around to escape. After hearing the voice, he was stunned. "Manager Yang?"
This cultivator surnamed Yang was a small manager in the mine. Lu Ye often dealt with him because the Qi and Blood Pills were exchanged from him, so they were quite familiar with each other.
Manager Yang was very optimistic about Lu Ye. After all, a slave miner who could endure hardships like him was rare.
However, although he was optimistic about him, he did not give him any special treatment. As long as he did not open his spiritual cavities, there was an insurmountable gap between a mortal like Lu Ye and a cultivator.
After recognizing Lu Ye, Manager Yang was relieved that he did not kill him with one palm. Lu Ye had exchanged a lot of Qi and Blood Pills from him in the past year, so his physical fitness was stronger than that of an ordinary slave miner. In addition, he just casually hit him and did not deliberately kill him, so it was not surprising that he could survive.
Opposite Manager Yang, Lu Ye's heart was beating like a drum.
The cultivators of Evil Moon Valley generally did not care about the life and death of slave miners. They also knew that slave miners often fought in the mineral vein, so they basically ignored them unless they ran into them.
Lu Ye had just beaten the Liu brothers until their heads were bleeding and they fainted on the ground. When he turned around, Manager Yang slapped him. In Lu Ye's view, this was clearly Manager Yang teaching him a lesson.
However, he soon felt that something was wrong because when Manager Yang rushed in, he looked panicked and did not look like he was standing up for the Liu brothers.
Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, Manager Yang showed a look of surprise, as if it was a good thing to meet Lu Ye here. He rushed forward and grabbed Lu Ye's shoulder. "Follow me!"
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