Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
One thousand people were going to live in one huge castle. Each person only had a room a bit over 30 square feet. It was like they were livestock in pens.
Some prefecture warriors came and distributed black picks. The warriors gave lessons on how to dig out Spring Gold and the tricks to find it.
“Each month, your job is to hand in 10 pieces of Spring Gold. With each extra one, you can earn one hundred Divine Sources. Of course… you can store the extra ones and hand them in the next month to fulfill the target. But when your terms are up, you must hand in all the Spring Gold. Anyone that dares to unlawfully possess Spring Gold will be punished with death. Do not take others’ Spring Gold. Violators will be killed!”
The prefecture warriors left afterward. The new immortals gathered in the hall in the castle, discussing heatedly. Someone had already gone out to collect information.
Lu Li did not act at once. He waited quietly. Several people had gone for intelligence. Soon, they would come back. More preparation might quicken the speed of doing work. Lu Li decided he must get a clear understanding of the situation before he commenced his work.
“Guys, guys!”
An hour later, an old man with tanned skin came back to report with a solemn look, “This Mountain of Vicissitudes is a trap indeed. Many people have been serving here for hundreds of years. Spring Gold is hard to find. If we’re lucky, we can finish a month’s target in a few days. If not… we won’t find one piece for months.”
Lu Li and the others’ minds were weighted down. Not even one piece could be found in several months. Then wouldn’t they have to stay here forever? The Vicissitude House had a clever plan to make the new immortals their long-term free hard labor.
“Also… be careful!”
That old man added other words of warning, “We cannot resort to violence in the Valley of Vicissitudes, which is true. However, the mines are deep. Some are located way underground. People up here have no idea of the fights going on down there and the prefecture warriors do not care. Down there, there will always be people in teams robbing Spring Gold. I suggest… that we work together in teams and go down there to dig. When someone tries to rob us of Spring Gold, at least we can protect ourselves or else we can lose our lives.”
The old man’s suggestion received popularity. They were not familiar with each other, but they were somehow bonded by the fact that they ascended at the same time and had come to the Mountain of Vicissitudes together. If they could cooperate, others wouldn’t bully them, and they could protect themselves.
“Okay. Let us get into teams of fifty. If someone came to bully one team, we will rescue that team and help each other. Unity is strength. We will not allow anyone to abuse us.”
The others went on and on in the lively discussion. Some had already taken the lead to form teams. A beast immortal came to Lu Li and asked Lu Li to join. Upon deliberation, Lu Li turned him down.
“Not coming? Hmm, we will not take care of you if you are being hunted down.”
That immortal threw Lu Li a scornful look. Many people turned over, sneering. Their attitude toward Lu Li had become unkind.
Lu Li was young and on the way to Vicissitude House, he sat by himself and never chatted with others. Many had noticed that. Now, Lu Li chose not to join a team. To others, Lu Li was such a person that was full of himself. Naturally, they would not be friendly to him.
Lu Li said nothing while he stood there. It was not convenient for him to join any teams.
What was more—would it really be safe if they formed teams? Would all their teammates be trustworthy? Not necessarily. They were from different worlds, and they barely knew each other. Who could say for sure that someone would not stab another person in the back?
For the time being, Lu Li decided to trust no one in this unfamiliar world. He wanted to rely only on himself. He did have his leverages. The Deaf Taoist and the immortal’s body were a great help. Faced with the average immortals, he could enjoy an advantage in fights.
Soon, many teams were formed. They swarmed out. They were talking loudly and tried to explore the mines. Since they were immortals, they were full of energy and did not need to take a rest or to adjust.
Soon, the majority in the castle had left. Lu Li realized that someone else also did not join any teams just like him and was glaring coldly as the teams left.
“Rustle, rustle, rustle~”
When Lu Li was about to step out, a somewhat gloomy young man with purple hair came over. He cupped his fists and said in a low voice, “I am Su Zixi, from the Grand Martial Universe. I do not trust that crowd. You… are strong. I want to team up with you.”
“Eh?”
Lu Li raised his eyebrows, surprised. He was just a new immortal that had just ascended as well. Why would this Su Zixi call him strong?
While blinking, Lu Li asked, “I have just ascended and the Fundamental Principle I learned is a common one. Why do you say I am strong?”
“I don’t know!”
Su Zixi shook his head. Staring at Lu Li with faith, he said, “I trust my instinct. I feel that in this group, you are the strongest. To follow you is the right thing to do. My instinct has always been accurate.”
“Ha, ha!”
Lu Li couldn’t help but laugh. He didn’t even trust himself so much. This Su Zixin sure had faith in him. Lu Li shook his head and said, “Sorry. I don’t do teams. I work alone.”
“Okay.” Su Zixi was a bit disappointed. “Then can you tell me your name? I hope we can be friends in the future.”
“Li Lu!”
Lu Li deliberately reversed his surname and given name. With that said, he walked outside the castle and stepped into a mine he chose randomly.
The mine was huge; it had a width of over two miles. On the walls around was a kind of black rock. There were people hurrying in and out all the time.
Lu Li walked along the mine which began to lead downward. Several miles later, he was at a crossroads. Lu Li chose a path randomly and continued. At the same time, he used psychic power to check and look for Spring Gold.
Of course, he knew he could not find any Spring Gold here. If there were any, someone would have unearthed it. He could see some pits and cracks on the walls. Clearly, someone had worked here before.
Lu Li’s psychic power was strong. Though the space in the Divinity was stable, his psychic power could reach thousands of miles away. But the black rock in the mines could affect psychic power. Lu Li’s psychic power could only reach thousands of feet and no further.
As he went deeper, he came upon more crossroads. The mines were getting smaller. Someone must have dug out the roads here. Lu Li wondered how old the Mountain of Vicissitudes was and how many people had worked here because the mines were everywhere, and there were marks of excavation.
Lu Li had been hurrying around for an hour. He felt like he had been traveling for thousands of miles already. Yet, there was no Spring Gold. Along the way, Lu Li did see many warriors and some in teams. The teams were usually made up of several warriors. They cast a glance at Lu Li but paid no more attention before they rushed away.
“It looks like an ant colony down here.”
Lu Li almost got lost. He decided to follow the path downward. There couldn’t be any more pieces of Spring Gold further up since so many people had been digging.
“Eh? Someone is there. Spring Gold!”
An hour later, Lu Li found someone in a smaller mine. Using psychic power, he just happened to see this person digging out a piece of Spring Gold.
“Out of my way!”
Lu Li heard an angry shout. That person put the piece of Spring Gold into his chest pocket. Taking out a saber, he pointed it at Lu Li and said, “You want my Spring Gold? Believe me. I will kill you!”
