333: Red Slave Clan

Lu Chen also sized up the young woman. She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in worn-out hemp clothes, with dark red skin, but her eyes were clear, like a spring in the desert.

She quickly pulled out a damp cloth from her In my arms and gently placed it on Lu Chen's forehead, then carefully fed him a small sip of turbid water.

"She whispered, her voice as light as the wind: "I am Chi Yao of the Red Slaves. You can also call me A Yao. Who are you? You don't look like an Immortal Citizen. Are you a Mortal Citizen?"

Red Slaves? Immortal Citizens? Mortal Citizens? What the hell!

Lu Chen pretended to have a headache: "I've lost my memory. Where is this...?"

Chi Yao glanced around, confirming no one was paying attention, then whispered:

"This is the Blood Prison Mining Area, the lowest level of forced labor in the Immortal Realm's Nine Heavens. We are the Red Slaves, born unable to Cultivate, only able to dig blood essence ore to support those high and mighty Immortal Citizens."

"Immortal Realm? This is actually the Immortal Realm?" Lu Chen's pupils contracted. He hadn't expected to be teleported to the Immortal Realm.

Shouldn't the Immortal Realm be filled with flying cranes and magnificent palaces?

But everything before him, how could it be even half a "fairyland"?

"The Immortal Realm... is it really so dark?" Lu Chen murmured.

Chi Yao became agitated: "You also think the Immortal Realm is dark, but my people believe we are born as useless individuals, destined to be slaves. But I'm not resigned to this. Why should we be born as slaves? Why should Immortal Citizens be high and mighty?"

Lu Chen asked: "What are Immortal Citizens?"

Chi Yao continued: "In the Immortal Realm, there are three races. Immortal Citizens make up ten percent, born with Spiritual Roots, pure Bloodlines, able to absorb Immortal Qi, easily Cultivating to True Immortal and above, living in floating Immortal Cities, enjoying endless resources, and living for ten thousand years; Mortal Citizens make up thirty percent, with Spiritual Roots but thin ones, able to Cultivate at most to Half-Immortal, living for a thousand years, serving Immortal Citizens; and we Red Slaves make up sixty percent, the largest population, born without Spiritual Roots, unable to absorb spiritual power, unable to Cultivate, specializing in digging blood essence ore, and living for less than a hundred years."

Lu Chen was curious: "Immortals can move mountains and overturn seas, digging countless Ore in minutes. Why do they need you to dig?"

Chi Yao explained: "blood essence ore is very special; Immortals cannot touch it, or they will suffer a backlash. Not to mention using Spells, blood essence ore will form a special barrier that reflects them. Therefore, only Red Slaves without spiritual power can dig the Ore, which is then transported to the floating city. They have special Alchemy Immortals who decompose it and extract the energy within."

So that's how it is.

Unexpectedly, this Immortal Realm is a huge commercial Empire, with the top ruthlessly exploiting the bottom.

Lu Chen looked at the frail young woman in front of him and asked: "Do you have any blood essence ore here? Can I see it?"

Chi Yao was startled, then her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Yes!" Her tone was joyful, as if she had finally waited for this day, "Wait!"

She quickly helped the weak Lu Chen up, her movements gentle yet firm, fearing she might pull at his unhealed injuries.

She led Lu Chen through the main cave to a more secluded side cave.

The entrance to the cave was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to squeeze through sideways, and a heavy stone slab hung on the cave wall, clearly used for concealment.

The space inside the cave was not large, about the width of a bed, but it was a world of its own.

Inside the cave, dozens of blood-colored Ore of various sizes were displayed, some like fists, some like fingernails, all neatly arranged by size, color, and cracks.

Next to each Ore, there was a wooden stick with a number carved into it, and dense annotations written with charcoal pencil next to it.

But what was most shocking were the four rock walls.

The entire stone wall, from top to bottom, was densely covered with writing!

Some were scratched out with sharp stones, some were written with charcoal pencils, and some even used blood as ink. The handwriting varied in depth but was arranged in order.

The content was all-encompassing:

"blood essence ore, third category: red-veined Ore, slightly warm to the touch, with a faint glow at night, suspected to be residual Immortal Qi."

"147th test: Mixed Ore powder into soup. After consumption, body temperature rose, heartbeat quickened, lasting for two quarters of an hour, followed by fatigue."

"Hypothesis: Red Slaves' Bloodline repels spiritual power, but has a weak resonance with blood essence ore. Perhaps it can be utilized?"

"Failure record: 89th time, Ore powder entered the body, Meridians burned, recuperated for seven days."

"1103rd experiment — I succeeded!!!"

(This line of text was ecstatic and scrawled, with ink splattered, and even a few dark red blood spots splashed nearby, as if she had cut her finger in excitement)

"Using red-veined Ore powder as the main ingredient, adding three auxiliary Ore (ash stone, iron vein crystal, black moss powder), boiled in a 'three, two, one' ratio to make 'Red Source Soup'!

After drinking, a warm current surged through the body, wounds healed faster, and strength increased by nearly thirty percent! Miner No. 7, who had a high fever last night, was able to walk this morning after drinking it!

The Red Slaves finally have their own 'medicine'!

But... there are side effects.

On the tenth day after taking it, Miner No. 7's fingertips turned black, his heartbeat became erratic, and he died shortly after.

I tried it three times myself, and the last time I fainted for three days.

Still needs improvement... I can't let my people trade their lives for strength."

(The last sentence was written with a very fine charcoal pencil, the handwriting heavy, as if carved into the stone)

Lu Chen gently stroked the stone wall, his heart surging with shock.

These writings spanned over a decade.

There were childish strokes, as if written by a child;

There were messy scribbles, seemingly records of pain;

And there were neat deductions, like a scholar's notes.

This young woman... started mining at the age of three, but never gave up thinking.

In her most primitive way, she studied the possibility of changing her fate, bit by bit.

"You... have been researching this?" Lu Chen asked softly.

Chi Yao nodded, her eyes bright: "I don't believe that we Red Slaves are born as useless individuals, destined to be slaves."

"So... I've been trying. Even if I fail ten thousand times, as long as there's one success, we Red Slaves still have hope."

Lu Chen was silent for a long time, a trace of emotion flashing in his eyes.

He suddenly realized—

These words on the wall were not research notes.

This was a history of struggle.

Lu Chen turned to look at her: "Aren't you afraid I'll leak the secret? Tell the Overseer, or the Immortal Citizens? You've placed the hope of the entire Red Slaves on me, a stranger."

Chi Yao, however, smiled, a smile as pure as a wisp of wind from the depths of a mine shaft.

"I have a hunch." She said softly, "You're not a bad person. Your eyes... are different from those Immortal Citizens. They look at us like they look at stones, like they look at livestock. But you look at us... like you look at 'people'."

Lu Chen's heart trembled.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly: "You're too naive... In a place like this, relying only on intuition will get you killed."

But as his words fell, he himself understood—

It was precisely this "naivety" that kept a glimmer of light in this dark world.

He composed himself, his gaze returning to the blood essence ore, and said in a deep voice:

"Your research direction is correct. The Red Slaves are not unable to Cultivate; rather, their Cultivation system is completely different from ordinary people. You repel spiritual power, but you have a natural affinity for Immortal Qi, especially the 'pure Immortal Qi' extracted from blood essence ore."

"It's just that you don't have the correct guidance method—no Cultivation Technique, no Meridians routes, no protective measures. Rashly absorbing it will only result in a backlash from the Immortal Qi, destroying your Meridians."

Chi Yao's breath hitched, her eyes wide: "You... you mean, we really can Cultivate?!"

Lu Chen nodded: "It's not guaranteed to succeed, but I can try—to create a unique Cultivation Technique for your Red Slaves."

"What?!" Chi Yao suddenly took a step back, as if struck by lightning.

Her voice trembled, filled with disbelief: "You... what did you say? You can create a Cultivation Technique suitable for us Red Slaves? How is that possible? For a hundred thousand years, countless ancestors have tried. Some swallowed Ore powder, some refined blood as a guide, some even sacrificed their lives to the Ore... but not a single person succeeded! We are born without Spiritual Roots, our Meridians are blocked, we can't even do the most basic breathing exercises!"

Lu Chen looked at her, his eyes calm: "If even I can't create it, then no one in this world can!"