156: You'll have to pay extra.

Meanwhile.

Deep within Mine 9527 of the Immortal Realm.

At the entrance of a hidden cave, weeds grew wildly.

A burly man pulled up his coarse cloth pants, a look of satisfied laziness on his face, as he slowly walked out of the cave.

He casually brushed the dust off the corner of his clothes, a comfortable sigh escaping his throat.

"Boss, finished enjoying yourself?"

The two men guarding the cave entrance immediately stepped forward to greet him.

One was a short man with shifty eyes.

The other was a smiling Yun An.

The burly man nodded, his tone regretful: "It's a pity this kid is so stubborn. After all that persuasion, he only allowed the two of us. It's really unfair to the other brothers in our Brave Heroes Gang; they didn't get to taste such a delicacy."

As he spoke, he turned to Yun An and patted his shoulder, his voice full of praise.

"Yun An, the people coming from your Spirit Realm are indeed tender!"

"I've been digging in this mine for hundreds of years, and today I finally got a taste of something sweet. It wasn't easy."

Yun An's face was full of pride, and his voice rose a few notches.

"Of course!"

"Among this batch of Ascenders, Gu Qingtian has the most delicate skin; his feel is second to none!"

"Hehe, then it should be my turn, right?" The Shorty on the side had long been unable to contain himself. He rubbed his hands together, his eyes eagerly glancing into the cave. "Boss, I've been waiting for ages."

The burly man waved his hand: "Go on, go on. Remember to be gentle and don't make too much noise, lest someone finds out."

"Got it!" The Shorty beamed with joy, gave a response, and hurriedly jogged into the cave.

The light inside the cave was dim, with only a few rays of light filtering in from the entrance, barely illuminating a small area.

Gu Qingtian curled up on the cold stone floor, his clothes already torn to shreds. There was no color in his face, only a numb despair.

Right now, he felt that life was no longer worth living, and he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.

Just then, a hurried sound of footsteps came from the cave entrance.

The Shorty jogged up to Gu Qingtian and rubbed his hands together.

Gu Qingtian looked up at him, a flicker of disgust passing through his eyes.

"Come on."

He forced himself to shift his body, sticking his rear out toward him.

The Shorty leaned in a couple of steps, a strange smile plastered on his face: "It's not me coming at you; it's you coming at me."

As he finished speaking, he simply turned around and thrust his own rear toward Gu Qingtian.

Gu Qingtian froze on the spot, his pupils dilating suddenly. He stood there dazed for a long time, unable to react.

He had imagined countless humiliating scenarios, but he never expected it to be like this.

"Hurry up!"

"What are you dawdling for?"

"If we get caught by a patrolling overseer later, neither of us will have a good time!"

Seeing that Gu Qingtian hadn't moved for a while, the Shorty turned back and urged impatiently.

"Bastard!" Gu Qingtian suddenly snapped back to his senses, his face darkening as he said sternly, "I'm not doing this deal anymore!"

The Shorty's face darkened, and the pressure of a True Immortal Peak erupted from his body.

He took a step forward, his gaze fierce: "Kid, you fucking took the money and now you don't want to do the job? Do you really think I'm easy to bully?"

"I took five Immortal Stones and only agreed to let you ravage me, not for me to ravage you!"

Gu Qingtian stiffened his neck, his voice carrying suppressed anger.

"Holy shit! Is there a fucking difference?"

The Shorty became even more furious. He rolled up his sleeves and rushed forward, his sandbag-sized fist smashing directly into Gu Qingtian's cheek: "I think you're just asking for a beating!"

Dull thuds of fists landing on flesh sounded one after another.

After a few breaths, the Shorty finally stopped, huffing as he looked at the bruised and swollen Gu Qingtian.

"I'll ask you one more time: are you going to do it or not?"

After a pause, he added a harsher threat: "If you don't do it, I'll beat you into a state of heavy injury right now, so you won't even have the strength to mine."

"When the time comes and you can't complete the mine's quota, it'll be a death sentence all the same. Choose for yourself!"

Gu Qingtian's face instantly turned ashen.

In a one-on-one fight, he might not necessarily fear this Shorty.

But the Shorty was in league with the burly man outside, and they had the entire Brave Heroes Gang behind them.

If he dared to lay a hand on the Shorty today, the people of the Brave Heroes Gang would never let him off.

Having struggled in the mine for this period of time, he had long ago figured out the rules of Mine 9527.

Secretly, the miners were divided into over a dozen Gangs of various sizes; the law of the jungle was the iron rule here.

A lone wolf like him, who hadn't joined any Gang, was the easiest target for bullying.

Only that old fellow Yun An, with his ruthless methods and sufficient strength, could thrive alone in this underground world.

Seeing that Gu Qingtian wasn't speaking, the Shorty leaned in again: "Kid, have you thought it through? Don't force me to act!"

Gu Qingtian gritted his teeth so hard his knuckles turned white.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the metallic taste in his throat, and said coldly: "For this, you have to pay extra."

A smile instantly broke out on the Shorty's face, and he reached out to pat Gu Qingtian's shoulder: "Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd said that earlier? You made me break a sweat for nothing."

He rubbed his hands and asked: "Speak, how many Immortal Stones do you want?"

Gu Qingtian looked up at him, his eyes filled with suppressed humiliation, and said coldly: "Ten."

"Holy crap! Why don't you just fucking rob me?"

The short, fat man jumped up, his voice rising: "I've been secretly saving for a year to scrape together thirty Immortal Stones!"

"At your price, a year's savings is only enough for three times. Are you trying to drive me to my death?"

Gu Qingtian didn't budge, his tone resolute: "Either I smash myself into a heavy injury right now, or you pay ten Immortal Stones. Otherwise, there's no deal."

The Shorty's gaze fell on Gu Qingtian's exposed chest.

The lines were firm, and even though they were covered in dust, they couldn't hide the youth's upright build.

He swallowed hard. Thinking about how he hadn't seen someone so much to his taste in a thousand years, he finally gritted his teeth: "Fine! Ten it is!"

If Gu Qingtian weren't such a handsome man, the likes of which hadn't been seen in a thousand years, he would never have agreed to such an outrageous price.

As he spoke, he pulled a cloth bundle from his chest and fiercely threw five Immortal Stones onto the ground in front of Gu Qingtian.

Gu Qingtian stared at the stones, waves of self-pity churning in his chest.

Who would have thought that he, the great Sword Immortal Gu, would one day fall to the point of relying on such things to survive?

"Come on, time waits for no one," the Shorty said expectantly.

Gu Qingtian, however, spoke mockingly: "I forgot to tell you, I have no reaction to you."

The Shorty was already prepared. He fished out a red pill the size of a fingernail from his chest and held it out to Gu Qingtian with a smug smile.

"Fortunately, I came prepared."

"Come, eat this Passion-Igniting Pill."

"I guarantee that even if you're facing a rock, you'll have urges."

Gu Qingtian was completely dumbfounded.

He never expected the other party to have such a thing.

Before he could react, the Shorty grabbed his jaw, forced his mouth open, and shoved the red pill inside.

The pill dissolved instantly, and a scorching aura slid down his throat, burning his internal organs until they ached.

Gu Qingtian lay on the ground, staring at the darkness of the cave ceiling, even entertaining thoughts of wanting to die.

Fifteen minutes later.

The Shorty left with a dark expression, flicking his sleeves. As he left, he couldn't help but spit, his tone full of disgust: "What a fucking waste! I hadn't even started and it was already over. How unlucky!"