On the First Day, Already Produced 1,200 Jin

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.