236: Chapter 236 Immortal Stone Miner

Third Brother Huang closed his mouth unwillingly, but his eyes were still full of resentment.

Seeing this, Yin Gu took the opportunity to comfort him in a low voice:

"Boss Huang is right. Cultivation is like rowing upstream; if you don't advance, you fall back. Didn't we undergo Ascension just to seek a path forward, prove our Dao for longevity, and live freely?"

His voice was steady, but he was incredibly smug inside.

Thanks to Su Mo, he already had an immortal and indestructible body; Ascension was merely for the sake of seeking some excitement.

While the few of them conversed in low voices, several more flashes of light appeared on the Ascension Platform.

The armored Cultivator let out a small gasp of surprise:

"Usually there are at most four or five Ascended Cultivators a day. Why are there so many this time?"

Yin Gu also noticed the movement behind him. A glance from the corner of his eye brought a smile to his face.

It was those few acquaintances from Heavenly Valley.

"It seems... Ascension isn't random after all."

The queue moved forward slowly. Every Ascended was forced to leave a Divine Soul imprint on a dark-gold stone tablet and receive a jade token and dusty-gray clothing.

When it was Yin Gu's turn, the Cultivator in charge of registration didn't even look up, asking coldly:

"Name and realm of origin."

Yin Gu's heart tightened. He put on a humble smile and said respectfully:

"Yin Gu, from the Small Heavenly Realm."

He had just made up a realm name on the spot.

Fortunately, the Cultivator didn't care at all and simply tossed the inscribed jade token to him.

"Take your identity token and commoner's clothes and go over there!"

Yin Gu took it and found his name and origin carved on the front, while the back bore the character 'Labor'.

"Laborer..."

Yin Gu's lip twitched. To think that they, Cultivators who could summon wind and rain in the Lower Realm, would become mere laborers immediately after Ascension.

"What are you doing! This is my Lifebound Treasure!"

Suddenly, the roar of Third Brother Huang came from the side.

An armored Cultivator was roughly snatching a crimson short blade from his hand.

The short blade shimmered with spiritual light; it was clearly a rare treasure in the Lower Realm.

"Just some junk from the Lower Realm!"

The armored Cultivator sneered and applied force:

"All Ascended must hand over all personal belongings! This is the rule!"

"You!"

Third Brother Huang's eyes nearly split from rage. His Lifebound Treasure was linked to his mind; if it were forcibly taken, he would surely suffer a severe injury.

His aura surged, and he looked as if he were about to strike.

"Third brother, don't!"

Boss Huang and Huang Lao Er's expressions changed drastically, and they rushed forward to hold him back.

At the same time, they smiled apologetically at the armored Cultivator:

"Please calm your anger, Immortal. My brother has a short fuse and doesn't know the rules. We'll hand it over right away, right away."

Saying that, he glared at Third Brother Huang and shouted via sound transmission:

"Fool! Do you want to die here right after Ascending? If a Magic Treasure is gone, it can be refined again, but if your life is gone, everything is lost! It's just a Magic Treasure; you can just refine a better one later!"

Third Brother Huang heard this and finally gritted his teeth, suppressing the rage in his heart.

"Consider yourselves sensible! If there's a next time, I'll cripple your immortal fetuses!"

The soldier gave a vicious warning, took everyone's belongings, and then turned to leave.

Yin Gu couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. He had also been stripped bare, left with only a pair of underpants to cover his shame.

A moment later, the few from Heavenly Valley stood together with Yin Gu. They looked at each other and began to communicate via sound transmission.

"Fellow Daoist Yin Gu, why don't we just fight our way out? I don't believe that in a place as large as the Yuanguang Realm, there's no place for us!"

Azure Nether Sword Venerable's eyes were full of fury.

The Azure Nether Sword that had accompanied him for ten thousand years had been taken away; that was something more important than a Dao Companion.

"Be patient."

Heavenly Valley was relatively calm and comforted them via sound transmission:

"Our bodies are immortal and indestructible. External possessions can be reclaimed in the future."

Yin Gu also agreed:

"Fellow Daoist Heavenly Valley is absolutely right. Any random Cultivator from this Huangji Immortal Dynasty can crush us as we are now. Resisting now would undoubtedly be suicide."

"It's better to wait and see. Perhaps there will be a turning point."

Azure Nether Sword Venerable suppressed his anger, a cold light flickering in his eyes:

"Hmph! I'll endure for now. Once I've grasped the truth of this place, I'll definitely make these people pay the price!"

Soon, a massive bronze flying boat tore through the sky and landed in front of them.

A person descended from the flying boat.

This person was dressed in a cloud-patterned brocade robe and appeared to be a steward. He cupped his hands and smiled at the leading armored Cultivator:

"Centurion Wang, how have you been lately?"

The Cultivator known as Centurion Wang had a cold, hard face but managed to squeeze out a smile:

"Steward Li, it's been a long time."

The two were quite familiar and exchanged a few brief pleasantries.

Then, Steward Li took out a small pouch and placed it in Centurion Wang's palm.

"This is the payment for this time. The extra is for you all to get some drinks."

Centurion Wang took the pouch and scanned it with his Divine Sense. The forced smile on his face became a bit more genuine, and he nodded slightly:

"Steward Li is too kind. These laborers are now in your hands."

Hearing this, Steward Li nodded and swept his gaze over Yin Gu and the others:

"Everyone, having just arrived in the Yuanguang Realm, you must be feeling lost. I have found a good job for you. If you do well, not only can you complete the remaining tempering to pass the True Immortal Lightning Tribulation and become a full member of the Immortal Realm, but you will also have a slight chance of becoming a member of the Li Clan Immortal Family."

The group was completely confused, but Steward Li ignored their reactions. With a wave of his hand, dozens of black streaks of light accurately struck everyone's necks.

As the spiritual light dissipated, a black ring was tightly fitted around each person's neck, perfectly snug.

"What... what is this?!"

The crowd immediately fell into a commotion, everyone trying to remove the black rings, only to find it completely useless.

Furthermore, the more force they applied, the more their Divine Souls and immortal fetuses throbbed with pain.

Steward Li looked at the panicked crowd and explained:

"This is the immortal locking ring, to prevent your minds from wandering and ensure you do your work properly."

After dropping those words, he ignored the commotion behind him and headed straight onto the bronze flying boat.

"Follow me."

All the Ascended had no choice but to board the boat. The bronze flying boat carried them, turning into a streak of light that shot toward the horizon.

Before long, the flying boat landed in a desolate mountain range that lacked even a trace of Immortal Qi.

Everyone saw the scene below the flying boat, and a single word simultaneously appeared in their minds.

Miners!

Below, the mountain range was crisscrossed with ravines and riddled with dense mine tunnels. Dozens of figures dressed in gray commoner's clothes, also wearing black rings around their necks, were sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Surrounding them were several Cultivators who looked like Supervisors, holding black long whips.

Steward Li stepped off the flying boat and said indifferently to Yin Gu and the other Ascended Cultivators:

"This is the Ding-rank Immortal Essence Stone Mine. You will work and rest here from now on."

As soon as he finished speaking, Supervisors immediately stepped forward and roughly shoved blue-gold pickaxes and back-baskets into the hands of every Ascended.

Yin Gu looked shocked and suspicious. The pickaxe was extremely heavy in his hand. He estimated that with such weight, he would be exhausted after swinging it at most dozens of times.