Chapter 19
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Chapter 19: Mining Hard Labor
The two senior brothers restraining Wu Baoru realized he had truly fainted and nodded to the sect leader. The group of elders were all cunning old foxes who could read each other’s meaning with just a glance, naturally understanding what the two meant. They had already suspected Yue Qianchou—with Wu Baoru’s cultivation level, if he really wanted to kill him to silence him, how could he let him run here? Now a Nascent Soul stage senior brother had actually been angered into fainting—the injustice he suffered was imaginable.
“Where are the law enforcement disciples!” Liu Changqing shouted.
“Present!” Several people emerged from both sides of the main hall. The square immediately fell silent as everyone looked toward the hall front, knowing the sect leader was about to make a decision.
“Before the truth is clear, no disciples may gossip. This matter will be set aside for now—the truth will naturally become clear after Elder Wu recovers.” Liu Changqing spoke first, then stared at the two crying injustice: “Elder Wu publicly chased and attacked a disciple, witnessed by all—punished with confinement for recovery, awaiting judgment. Yue Qianchou publicly insulted his elder, heard by all—punished with hard labor in the spirit stone mines, awaiting judgment. Do any elders have objections?”
Not one elder disagreed.
The disciples naturally didn’t dare have any opinions about the sect leader’s decision. But everyone understood that this judgment clearly disadvantaged Yue Qianchou. Everyone knew the spirit stone mines were no place for humans—they were clearly Azure Light Sect’s place of exile for disciples. Disciples working there were either those with extremely poor spiritual roots or those who had committed crimes. Each day had quotas for mining spirit stones, and failure to complete tasks would result in severe punishment. So far, few had been heard to return alive from there.
In everyone’s eyes, Yue Qianchou was clearly the victim, yet received the heaviest punishment, inevitably making people think of his previous offense against the sect leader’s grandfather and grandson—this was obviously retaliation. No one dared say anything, only shaking their heads and sighing inwardly.
Liu Zhengguang in the crowd felt pleased seeing Yue Qianchou punished to the spirit stone mines, but also felt his grandfather doing this publicly was a bit too obvious.
“Nephew Yue, do you have any objections to this judgment?” Liu Changqing said coldly.
“This disciple is willing to accept punishment and dares not have any complaints.” Yue Qianchou answered with a desolate expression, making the disciples feel heartbroken. Little did they know that hearing about going to the spirit stone mines made his heart race with excitement.
The sect leader waved his hand, Elder Wu was carried away, and Yue Qianchou was also escorted to the spirit stone mines by law enforcement disciples. Qu Ping’er stared intently at that staggering, utterly dejected figure, biting her lips tightly—she truly couldn’t imagine such a talented person doing hard labor in the spirit stone mines.
…
Under the blazing sun, outside the spirit stone mine caves, there were rows of stone caves on both left and right sides—all living quarters for mining disciples. On an open space in front, nearly a hundred disciples in tattered clothes, dirty all over, were gathered together. In front of them, on a stone pillar, a disciple had been stripped of his upper clothing and bound hand and foot with iron chains.
“Whoosh crack! Whoosh crack…”
A whip covered with barbs flew through the air, each lash bringing a spray of blood and flesh. Each strike brought a scream. The watching disciples all showed expressions of terror.
A bare-chested cultivator with a face full of fierce flesh paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. This person was an early Core Formation cultivator named Gao Shiping, the warden of this spirit stone mine. He was eyeing this group of disciples like frightened birds with a predatory gaze. He said viciously:
“See that! This is what happens when you steal spirit stones. I’m warning you all—listen well, don’t harbor any lucky thoughts. No one has ever been able to muddy the waters under my watch…”
As he was speaking, he suddenly saw a streak of light approaching from the distance. Two law enforcement disciples landed with a dejected disciple in custody.
Gao Shiping’s fierce face broke into a smile as he scurried over obsequiously:
“Two law enforcement senior brothers, long time no see—bringing me another person.”
He glanced at the dejected disciple. This person was Yue Qianchou, punished to hard labor in the spirit stone mines.
The two law enforcement disciples nodded. Hearing the whip sounds and screams, they glanced toward the execution site. One frowned and asked:
“Junior Brother Gao, what did that person do wrong again?”
“Answering senior brother—this person is detestable. He actually dared to secretly absorb mined spirit stones in the spirit stone mines. When he came out, he was detected by the sect’s magical device. According to rules, five hundred lashes with the barbed whip.” Gao Shiping said.
The other law enforcement disciple shook his head and sighed:
“I’ve never heard of anyone surviving Junior Brother Gao’s ‘Wolf Fang Whip.'”
Yue Qianchou glanced over there, seeing the barbed wolf fang whip bringing up strings of blood and flesh, secretly alarmed. He thought:
‘What magical device? I was planning to steal spirit stones—wonder if it’s dangerous.’
“Without severe punishment, if everyone steals and absorbs spirit stones in the future, I really won’t be able to account to the sect.” Gao Shiping chuckled, glanced at Yue Qianchou and asked the two:
“Why has this disciple come here?”
One law enforcement disciple shook his head with a bitter smile:
“Uncle-Master Hao’s disciple—what else could it be?”
“Ah! The Yue Qianchou who offended the sect leader?” Gao Shiping exclaimed. Seeing the law enforcement senior brother nod in confirmation, his fierce face smiled:
“Hey! So it’s Junior Brother Yue. You really have guts, daring to offend even the sect leader. Old Gao will definitely take good care of you.”
After speaking, he turned and shouted:
“Someone come!”
Yue Qianchou knew he was famous in Azure Light Sect, but didn’t expect even the distant spirit stone mines to know of him. Then a supervisor ran over and, under Gao Shiping’s arrangement, took Yue Qianchou away.
He vaguely heard one law enforcement disciple say:
“Junior Brother Gao, you can’t kill this person—several elders specifically instructed that he’s still useful…”
The supervisor brought him among the mining disciples, first letting him witness what it meant to have your belly split and intestines spill under the whip.
Yue Qianchou showed no reaction after watching, nor did he feel the executed disciple deserved any pity. In his words:
‘If you dare steal, you should be prepared to be caught. Seeking your own death isn’t worth others’ sympathy.’
He observed the mining disciples around him—all skin and bones, with dirty faces showing only terror when witnessing executions, the rest displaying submissive, numb expressions. He sighed inwardly, seeing these people had lived under oppression for a long time.
These supervisors were truly ruthless. The disciple being beaten on the stone pillar was already dead, yet they still didn’t spare the corpse, continuing until the wolf fang whip had torn the body to pieces before stopping. Yue Qianchou’s eyes narrowed slightly, flashing with cold light.
‘Did they have a grudge? Actually whipping a corpse to vent hatred.’
Afterward, the miners were driven back to their respective caves. Yue Qianchou was led to one by a supervisor—the space wasn’t large, containing only floor bedding with three people already lying there. Apparently four people would have to squeeze together.
The supervisor said coldly:
“You’ll live here. Shi Xiaotian, you tell him what to do next.”
The last sentence was directed at a young man lying on the ground. The one called Shi Xiaotian hurriedly got up and responded upon hearing the supervisor’s words. The supervisor said nothing more and left.
Shi Xiaotian’s face was very dirty, but one could vaguely see he was a handsome young man—though Yue Qianchou had been in the cultivation world long enough to know not to judge age by appearance.
The former’s large eyes looked at this newcomer with vacant, lifeless expression.
Yue Qianchou smiled friendly at Shi Xiaotian, but the other didn’t seem appreciative, only saying
“follow me”
before saying nothing more.
He led him to collect mining tools—very simple items: a specially made pickaxe and a basket that could be carried on the back. After this, Shi Xiaotian slowly told him some rules, then they returned to the cave. Actually, Yue Qianchou really wanted to ask about the so-called detection magical device, but the other wouldn’t answer any questions.
The mining rules didn’t sound difficult—just didn’t know how they’d be in practice. Each person had to turn in the equivalent of one high-grade spirit stone daily—meaning you could give one hundred mid-grade or ten thousand low-grade stones.
If you couldn’t complete the task, you wouldn’t rest or eat. For cultivators, this wasn’t the most important thing—even if you hadn’t reached Core Formation to practice fasting, going a day or two without rest or food was fine.
The deadly part was that today’s shortfall would double and accumulate to tomorrow’s task. If you couldn’t complete tasks within three days, punishment severity would be decided by the amount of shortfall.
As for those who exceeded quotas, the excess could accumulate for times when you fell short to avoid punishment, or you could enjoy one percent of the excess spirit stones—either choice was up to the miner. If someone chose the latter, you had to guarantee one hundred percent completion of future tasks, otherwise you’d still face punishment since your previous excess had been used up.
The strictest rule was: if anyone dared steal spirit stones or secretly absorb spirit stones in the mines, discovery meant certain death.
Yue Qianchou memorized these rules. He wasn’t worried about completing tasks or facing punishment, but was thinking about how to steal spirit stones without being discovered while ensuring task completion.
This way he could stay in the spirit stone caves indefinitely, continuously stealing. His current situation desperately needed spirit stones to advance his cultivation. Now with opportunity right before him, asking him not to steal was impossible.
Because his thinking hadn’t changed from his previous life—the principle that horses don’t get fat without night grass, people don’t get rich without windfall gains was deeply branded in his consciousness.
What worried him most was the magical device Gao Shiping mentioned. He wondered if hiding spirit stones in the golden bead could avoid detection.
Snoring sounds arose in the cave, surprising Yue Qianchou greatly. How could cultivators sleep so deeply? This was no different from mortals. He couldn’t understand it. He wanted to hide in the golden bead world but feared being discovered for suddenly disappearing, so he had to endure the three people’s alternating snores.
The next day, Yue Qianchou discovered that people here minded their own business—no one would pay attention to you. He imitated the three others, shouldering his basket and carrying his pickaxe, following them to the spirit stone mine entrance. Standing in the crowd looking around, he seemed quite different, especially his clothes that were countless times cleaner than others’—very conspicuous.
