Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

Lu Yan forcefully placed a large piece of spirit ore into his basket, then put down his iron pickaxe and walked out of the mine.

This is the tenth basket today.

The clanging and tinkling sounds echoed continuously in the dimly lit mine.

There are many miners like Lu Yan, numbly swinging their iron pickaxes to knock down the spirit ore inside the cave.

This is their job, or you could say their destiny.

Lacking any skills, they could only rely on their physical strength.

There's no need to worry about the mine collapsing. This spirit stone ore is extremely hard and can only be broken open with a specially refined iron pickaxe. Then, fill the baskets and deliver them to the recording location.

Such strenuous work causes many people to suddenly collapse while working.

No one bothered to help them up; they just glanced at them briefly and continued with their work.

It's possible that the person who collapsed was simply exhausted and will wake up automatically after resting for a while.

It's also possible that he'll never wake up.

Having been here for twenty-nine days, Lu Yan knew the rules here well.

The law of the jungle prevails.

And they are the 'meat'.

As a low-level cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining, there are very few jobs available. Although mining is tiring, the mortality rate is low, making it the choice for most male cultivators.

Lu Yan, carrying a basket of spirit ore, dragged his heavy steps to the entrance of the cave, where three middle-aged cultivators dressed in brocade robes were taking notes.

Lu Yan went to the steward who was in charge of keeping records for him and queued up.

"Manager Zheng, this is the last basket of spirit ore for today." After it was his turn, Lu Yan said with a smile to the middle-aged cultivator.

There was no other way; the local official was more powerful than the distant one, and here these officials were the undisputed kings.

He can make you work for nothing with his pen, or he can make you feel much more relaxed.

"Hmm~" Manager Zheng nodded and began to take notes for Lu Yan.

After a moment, he said again, "Lu Yan, with this basket, you've now collected three hundred baskets. This is your salary."

After saying that, Steward Zheng took out four spirit stones the size of mahjong tiles from his storage bag and pushed them in front of Lu Yan.

"Thank you, Steward Zheng." Lu Yan happily accepted the basket, placed the spirit ore from the basket at the accumulation point, and then quickly left.

As is customary, three hundred baskets of spirit ore should be exchanged for five spirit stones, but Steward Zheng only gave him four. Knowing that one was missing, Lu Yan did not ask any further questions.

In Lu Yan's inherited memories, some newcomers had asked this question, but those people all died inexplicably in the mine.

Lu Yan knew they were making an example of him, so he kept a low profile from then on, never meddling in other people's business, and swallowing his anger without fighting back when he was bullied.

After all, there are no human rights here, only bloody human lives.

Some people can kill without breaking the law, especially when they kill themselves—people with no background, no education, and no one to care.

As darkness fell, Lu Yan quickened his pace. The mine was quite far from where he lived, and the journey was not very safe.

Not only are there a large number of demonic beasts in the wild, but there are also many cultivators with ulterior motives.

Whether they are demonic beasts or cultivators with ulterior motives, Lu Yan is a fat sheep to them. Every day, many people die in the wild for no reason, and no one seeks justice for them.

Once you're dead, you're dead.

We made it back to our lodgings before dark, but thankfully without any major incidents.

Lu Yan's residence was in a dilapidated courtyard outside the city of Wuyou City. There were countless such dilapidated courtyards outside the city, and the people living there were all low-level cultivators like Lu Yan.

Back at his lodgings, Lu Yan didn't rush to rest. Instead, he washed up and went out again, arriving at a small courtyard house at the alley entrance to pay next month's rent.

If Lu Yan doesn't hand it in today, he will be kicked out of the yard the next day.

For those low-level cultivators who are expelled, there is only one path: death.

In places like this, there are even more people who want something for nothing.

At this point, one of the four spirit stones he had just acquired was gone, leaving him with only three.

Then Lu Yan went to the outer city market and spent ninety spirit fragments to buy thirty Bigu Pills.

Spirit Shards are the currency unit below Spirit Stones.

Because the spirit ore is irregularly shaped after being mined, it needs to be manually cut into the size of a mahjong tile.

Substandard spirit ores and scraps will be made into spirit fragments, with one hundred spirit fragments equaling one low-grade spirit stone.

One Bigu Pill is equivalent to three Shattered Spirit Pills, which can offset Lu Yan's consumption for a day.

Ordinary food simply cannot meet the daily needs of cultivators, while food produced by spiritual creatures is too expensive. This fasting pill is the only option for cultivators at the bottom level.

However, the Bigu Pill is like compressed biscuits for humans; it doesn't offer much benefit to cultivators.

He bought some daily necessities, and now he only had one spirit stone and fifty spirit fragments left in his pocket.

Following his predecessor's habits, he would use one spirit stone to absorb and cultivate, and store the remaining fifty spirit fragments.

Not only Lu Yan's predecessor, but most cultivators would do the same, so that they could be prepared for emergencies.

After returning to my residence and giving the house a quick cleaning, I found myself reminiscing about the original owner's past.

The original owner was also named Lu Yan. He was born in the Great Yan Kingdom, a country dominated by mortals. In Bianzhou, Liufeng County, Zijin County, Lujia Town, a cultivator came to the town when he was sixteen years old. He said he was selecting disciples for his sect and set up a physical examination point in the county.

Anyone with the aptitude can cultivate and, like him, ride the clouds to achieve immortality.

The cultivator's words immediately caused quite a stir, and young men and women from all over the county went to him to have their aptitude tested.

As an orphan, Lu Yan naturally wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.

He was overjoyed for a long time after being found to have the aptitude for cultivation. Although it was only the lowest level of mixed spiritual roots of the five elements, it was still a aptitude.

The cultivator then taught Lu Yan and the others cultivation methods as they traveled. After arriving in Zheng'an City, the capital of Bianzhou, he provided them with pills, enabling Lu Yan and the others to quickly break through to the Qi Refining stage.

After Lu Yan and the others broke through, the cultivator told them that they would receive more resources after returning to the sect.

So Lu Yan, somewhat confused, followed the others onto the carriage.

Those with good aptitude have long since disappeared, while those with poor aptitude, like Lu Yan, were sent to Worry-Free City.

They were sold to the steward of Wuyou City for ten spirit stones each.

Because Wuyou City is surrounded by mineral deposits, it urgently needs low-level cultivators to mine.

Only then did Lu Yan realize that this was a complete human trafficking operation.

Next, Wuyou City began to manipulate everyone.

We arranged jobs and found accommodations for everyone, without worrying at all about anyone running away.

This place is far from human countries, and is full of demonic beasts and bandit cultivators. Without the protection of high-level cultivators, the chance of returning home is almost zero.

In order to survive, the newcomers had no choice but to follow the arrangements of Worry-Free City, work hard to earn spirit stones, and then spend them.

This cycle continues until death. Only a small number of cultivators can rise above their circumstances, and even then, they are merely higher-level slaves who will continue to be exploited by Wuyou City.

At first, Lu Yan was full of hope, believing that as long as he worked hard and earned more spirit stones, he would surely have a chance to succeed.

I became completely numb a year after arriving here, and all my former passion vanished.

Having witnessed countless partings and deaths, Lu Yan began to become timid and hesitant, avoiding trouble and becoming as humble as grass.

It was precisely because of his cautious nature that he survived until now, until he died unexpectedly on the night of twenty-nine days ago, and his body was taken over by Lu Yan, who had transmigrated from another world.

Fortunately, Lu Yan did not travel here alone; he also had his own cheat system, the Multiverse Turntable.

Lu Yan skillfully opened the panel, and there appeared out of thin air four large spinning wheels that only he could see.

One black, one gray, one red, and one yellow.

Each of the four turntables has the words "Level 1" written in large characters in the center.

The surrounding grids all uniformly contain the word "unknown".

The difference is that the black turntable has a ghost character in the middle.

There is a character for "demon" in the middle of the gray turntable.

There is a "demon" character in the middle of the red turntable.

There is a Chinese character "人" (person) in the center of the yellow turntable.

But it can't be used yet; all four large turntables are locked by an invisible chain with a large "1" on it.

Lu Yan knew this was the number of days, because on the day Lu Yan first arrived, the system displayed the word "thirty," and it would decrease with each passing day.

We'll see what the specific effects of this spinning wheel are tomorrow.

But Lu Yan, who was too excited to wait until dawn, sat cross-legged on the bed and felt time slowly passing by.

Until mid-11 PM (11 PM to 1 AM), the transparent chain on the turntable completely disappeared.

Lu Yan knew that the moment to change his fate had arrived.

Lu Yan chose the yellow wheel without hesitation, after all, he was now a human.

Lu Yan raised his hand and pressed it lightly. The yellow turntable began to spin wildly. After a moment, the turntable stopped, and ten phantom images of items appeared below it.

Lu Yan recognized six of them; they were six identical low-grade spirit stones.

In addition, there is a writing brush with a white jade handle and a red hair tip, a yellow bead, a wooden carving with arms and legs carved upside down, and a belt.

Lu Yan first clicked on the calligraphy brush, and then saw its description appear below:

"The Pen of Truth"

This brush was made by using the bone of a beast with a keen ear as the handle and the tail hair of a seductive fox as the head.

By pouring blood into the pen and connecting it with an item imbued with the target's aura, one can write down their deepest secrets. This technique can be used multiple times on the same target, and the secrets written will not be repeated. (Note: Only applicable to targets at or below the Qi Refining stage.)

Friendly reminder: I have spent my whole life writing, and my pen has been filled with unspeakable secrets, unbearable emotions, unbelievable discoveries, and a madness to destroy everything.

But I can't write my own story~

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Yan realized that although the Pen of Truth was just an auxiliary tool, it could sometimes play an unexpected role.

Then I looked at the strange wood carving. I wondered what the carver was thinking, that he could carve the arms and legs backwards. Are there really people like that in this world?

Lu Yan clicked on the wood carving to learn more about it.

Hand and foot replacement (one-time procedure)

An artifact from a mysterious sorcerer, imbued with witchcraft, which, when used on a target, can replace the target's arm and leg for fifteen minutes.

Friendly reminder: That time we fought each other, in order to make us feel the hardship of the other, our owner swapped us.

But I found it really fun!