On the flat ground at the exit of the mine, a dense crowd of people had already gathered.
Mine slaves crawled out of the pit one after another. Emaciated and with numb eyes, they dumped the fruits of their day's labor into a massive stone trough.
Beside the stone trough, Zhao Tianyang sat on a stone bench, an ancient-looking stone scale placed in front of him.
Expressionless, he weighed the ore handed in by each person.
"Wang Li, nine catties and seven taels. Unqualified. Your food is halved tonight."
"Li Shi, ten catties and three taels. Qualified."
"Sun Shengfu, eleven catties. Not bad."
Zhao Tianyang's voice was cold, completely devoid of any emotion.
Those who passed silently walked to the other side to receive a portion of food that looked like some kind of black paste from several equally numb overseers. Then, they stepped aside and devoured it ravenously.
Those who failed collapsed to the side with ashen faces, their eyes filled with unyielding despair.
The Golden Core genius who had broken down earlier had now regained his calm, but his eyes no longer held even a trace of their former brilliance.
He poured the ore from his cloth bag into the stone trough. Zhao Tianyang glanced at it as the stone scale sank slightly.
"Ten catties and one tael. Qualified."
His companion also had just ten catties, barely passing.
A hint of surprise rippled through Zhao Tianyang's cloudy eyes.
It was quite rare for newcomers to dig enough to meet their quota on the very first day.
Just then, Zhang Kui's tower-like figure walked over from the side.
He took a look at the ore in the stone trough, and a touch of astonishment appeared on his stern face.
"Not bad, kid." He patted the genius's shoulder with enough force to make him stumble. "Looks like you aren't completely useless after all."
The Golden Core genius didn't say a word. He just silently walked to the side and collected his sticky food.
Zhang Kui then looked at Zhao Tianyang and asked casually, "Where is the other one? Didn't he come back with you?"
Hearing this, Zhao Tianyang finally looked up and scanned the area.
Right.
Didn't three newcomers arrive?
Where was the other one?
That little troublemaker?
He wouldn't be causing trouble on his first day, would he?
Hadn't he already warned him?
Zhang Kui also realized this, his thick brows instantly twisting into a knot.
This sort of thing wasn't entirely unprecedented.
"Let's go take a look."
Without hesitation, Zhang Kui turned and strode toward the area where the newcomers were stationed.
Zhao Tianyang remained silent for a moment before following him.
When the two returned to that area, they immediately spotted the familiar figure.
Su Ji was squatting on the ground, looking around warily like a wild dog guarding its food.
And in front of him quietly lay a pitch-black ore the size of a millstone, covered in bizarre patterns.
Zhang Kui's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
His bell-like eyes widened little by little, filled with disbelief.
The moment Zhao Tianyang, who was following behind him, saw the ore, his normally placid, cloudy eyes suddenly shrank.
"You..." Zhang Kui pointed at the ore, then at Su Ji. "This... you mined this?"
Seeing the two men, Su Ji's face first flashed with a perfectly timed hint of panic, followed by a look of relief.
Zhao Tianyang took a step forward, walking over unhurriedly.
He stopped about a meter away from the Black-Patterned Iron. Any closer, and the spirit-repelling property of the ore would begin to clash with the spiritual energy in his body.
Zhao Tianyang didn't look at Su Ji; his gaze was completely captivated by the massive chunk of Black-Patterned Iron.
First, he carefully observed the gap left on the rock wall after the ore was stripped away.
The edges of the gap were incredibly smooth, not smashed open by brute force.
He then shifted his gaze to the big guy lying on the ground.
The fractured surface of the ore was equally flat.
A gleam of light flashed across Zhao Tianyang's wrinkled old face.
After a long time, he slowly nodded and squeezed out a word through his teeth.
"Acceptable."
Only then did Zhang Kui recover from his shock. He strode forward to the huge Black-Patterned Iron.
Bending down, he reached out with his large, palm-leaf-like hand, grabbing the edge of the ore. The muscles on his arm instantly knotted, and his veins bulged.
"Up!"
Accompanied by a muffled, low roar.
He forcefully lifted the massive Black-Patterned Iron off the ground with a single hand.
Zhang Kui weighed it in his hand, his gruff voice uncontrollably rising an octave.
"One thousand two hundred catties?!"
Most mine slaves, day after day, year after year, exhausted all their strength, and on their best days could only mine a little over twenty catties.
But this newcomer, on his very first day, dug out one thousand two hundred catties?
"Senior Brother, didn't you say the bird that sticks its head out gets shot?"
"It's impossible for you not to attract attention with this, right?"
"Stop talking and keep watching."
Zhao Tianyang didn't say a word, but his cloudy eyes lingered on Su Ji for a moment longer.
Then, he withdrew his gaze and looked back at Zhang Kui.
"Record a thousand catties to his account."
"Put the remaining two hundred under yours, consider it a transportation fee."
His voice retained its usual hoarse tone, betraying neither joy nor anger.
Hearing this, Zhang Kui grinned, revealing two rows of pearly white teeth. He reached out with his other free, massive hand and patted Su Ji heavily on the shoulder.
"Looks like you were born to be a miner, kid."
Su Ji stumbled from the pat, almost losing his footing.
Rubbing his numb shoulder, he spoke in a casual tone.
"It didn't feel that hard to dig..."
"Hahahaha!"
Zhang Kui let out a hearty laugh.
"You won't hold a grudge against me for taking two hundred catties off you, will you?"
"Come with me, I'm getting you extra food today."
With that, he grabbed Su Ji's wrist without allowing any argument and walked toward the food distribution area.
Dragged along, Su Ji staggered and had no choice but to passively follow.
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
