"One week." It was an old voice filled with vicissitudes that spoke these harsh words. "If your output is not satisfactory, I will personally punish you."
With one last look at the bunch of children in front of him, he let out a cold snort before walking away.
The children who had turned ashen after his warning hurriedly picked up their pickaxes and rushed inside the mines, hoping to work as fast as possible. Other than a few oddballs who were standing there with hopeless expressions, the rest of them had already left for work.
Amongst those oddballs was a frail boy who looked to be fourteen years old. Wearing long, worn-out, dusty clothes, he looked at the back of the old man with a deep gaze. Even though he was all skin and bones, it didn't diminish the wisdom in his eyes, forming a stark contrast with his immature appearance.
"What a mess." These were the only words Yang Ze was able to utter after a long time.
Who would have thought that a person from the twenty-first century living in the comfort of technology would one day inexplicably wake up in a completely different world? Not only that, but he would also have to work as a mining slave.
Till now, he had only read about such novels and would often laugh at how immature they all sounded. But now that it was his turn... all his playfulness and mockery were gone; replaced by a grim realisation that perhaps his life was going to be over before it even started.
"Sigh." With a heavy sigh, he picked up the pickaxe and followed the same dimly lit path that he had always done.
It's been almost a week since he arrived in this world. At first, he was ecstatic beyond words. After all, this was a world where one could cultivate immortality. But soon reality hit him hard. Even though one could cultivate immortality, this world has its own set of rules.
Someone like him, with no connections and talent, could only stay at the bottom of the barrel... struggling throughout what would be his pitiful, short-lived life.
During these past seven days, Yang Ze came to understand what true hell meant. The majority of the people working in these mines were children, with the oldest being less than twenty. It wasn't that people above twenty years old were promoted or sent to some other place. Instead, almost none of them survived after years of working.
Yang Ze could recall from the previous owner's memories that he, along with others, joined the so-called Lin family, who came to their village to recruit immortal seedlings.
At first, the previous body owner was ecstatic when he found out he could cultivate. Filled with high hopes and dreams, he was thinking about making a name for himself when reality hit him hard.
The moment they arrived in the vicinity of the Lin family, the steward who was treating them with warm smiles changed his face instantly. Then, he, along with others, was thrown into the spirit stones mines without any hesitation.
To squeeze out all their values, the Lin family even handed them fasting pills. One pill is enough to last one week for children like them. During this time, they will not feel any hunger or thirst and will be full of energy. Hell, they wouldn't even need to go to the bathroom.
The only drawback was that the pill wouldn't provide them with additional nutrients for their growth. This resulted in his malnourished and underdeveloped body.
The previous body owner worked under such hellish conditions for almost three years before breathing his last. And the current Yang Ze became the unfortunate soul to occupy his body.
"Ugh..." Thinking about all this, Yang Ze wanted to cry. But thinking about how the previous few children were whipped to death and their corpses were still strung at the entrance of the mines, he shuddered before hurriedly getting back to work.
His tasks were simple... Every day, they start working at the sound of the bell chimes and end their work when the bell chimes again. They had a fixed quota of mining thirty kilograms of ore. If they are short of ores, they would be whipped five times for every kilogram less.
For children like them, thirty kilograms was already well past their limits. Not to mention the ores which were hard to mine, the mere fact that they couldn't tell the passage of time inside this cave almost drove the majority of them crazy. There were no small talks, no laughter, no sadness and no fear. Just a mind-numbing stillness and a soulless look in the children's eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze began his daily routine.
He didn't know how long he had worked for. He lost the feeling in his arms, and his palms were also bleeding. But by now, he was used to it.
It wasn't until the bell rang did he came out of his stupor, slowly pushed the cart towards his destination.
It took him a while to reach an empty space where a group of children like him were already standing in silence. There weren't many; hardly twenty to thirty children. He heard rumours that the mines were divided into many sections, and there were even cultivators mining in other areas.
Shaking his head, he focused back on the scenery in front of him. The steward didn't immediately begin to collect their ores; instead, he waited till everyone was there. When the last person arrived, he cleared his throat before speaking in a hoarse voice.
"The Seventeenth Elder is not satisfied with the progress." He spoke while gazing across the children. Unsurprisingly, none of them showed any emotions. Their initial fear, anger, unwillingness, and hatred were dulled over the years under such brutal exploitation. The only thing they had now was complete indifference. They didn't even fear death. After all, they have already foreseen their future. Sooner or later, they were going to die either way.
Perhaps those in the Lin family were well aware of such facts. The steward just let out a snort before taking out a thin book from his robe and waving it in front of them.
"Rejoice, you bastards." His voice was full of mockery. "This is an Immortal technique. If you bastards can complete your tasks perfectly, the Lin family will bestow this opportunity upon you."
"Of course, if even one person failed to complete their tasks, none of you will get this reward."
With a smile, he placed the book back inside his robe and, without even measuring the ores, walked away, leaving behind a group of children who didn't seem to have comprehended the meaning behind his words.
The children there were silent at first. Initially, none of them bothered to pay any attention to what the steward was saying. It wasn't until they heard him mention 'Immortal Technique'.
For the first time in years, the flames of ambition in their eyes reignited once again. Weren't they here for this very thing in the first place? Initially, they all had given up hope. But now they were presented a second chance... how could they not be moved?
Within moments, for the first time, the children began to chatter amongst themselves. For the first time in years, the mine was filled with their laughter and excitement.
Yang Ze wasn't any different. At first, he was thinking about ways to escape from this mine and even thought about sliding the necks of these so-called stewards. But now...
The previous body owner came from a small village and had no idea about the outside world. After arriving at the Lin family, he repeatedly heard how his qualification was absolutely trash.
Even if the current Yang Ze successfully escaped the mine, the question of where to go still remained. And with the strength of the Lin family, it was just a matter of time before he was caught.
If the steward hadn't mentioned the reward of 'Cultivation Technique', perhaps he might have followed this path. But now...
He controlled the surging excitement and tightened the grip around the pickaxe. Now that there was a chance to change his fate and cultivate immortality, he would be an idiot to follow his previous plan.
So, for the next week, the twenty or so children began to work with all their strength. Though Yang Ze didn't chat with others, he could still hear the occasional excited voices coming from other places.
There was even a day when one of them didn't manage to meet the daily quota. For that guy, the children donated an excess of their ores, barely bringing his output to thirty kilograms.
Soon, it was the end of the seventh day, and this time, there was an additional figure of the old man with a gentle smile on his face, standing with the steward who was trying hard to fawn over him.
It was clear from their expression that they were absolutely satisfied with the past seven days' collections.
Once everyone was there, the steward immediately began to measure the amount of ore. After making sure that the amount was enough, he nodded to the old man with a face full of smiles.
"Good Job." These were the only words the old man spoke before leaving the place. The steward signalled the children to wait for him before he escorted the old man out.
It wasn't until almost an hour had passed that he returned, and this time, he was holding an additional package.
"Great job." He glanced at them and spoke further. "You all have met expectations and even exceeded them."
"Since you have completed the task, the Lin family will naturally not treat you badly."
"Collect your rations."
With a wave of his hand, a small table appeared in front of him and on it were a pile of pills along with a pile of books.
Yang Ze wasn't surprised by this magical scene. Everyone working in the mine knew that the steward had a magical space in which he could store items.
The pills were the usual fast pills, which were distributed to them once every week. But at this moment, none of the children there glanced at the pills. Instead, everyone's gaze was stuck on the pile of books. One could even hear the occasional sound of swallowing. If not for the presence of the steward in front of them, they would have rushed to pick up those books.
"Hmm..." The steward nodded in satisfaction. Thinking about the time when he had to discipline these bastards and how well behaved they were now... he couldn't help but let out a satisfied smile. No one knows how much effort he put into his work.
Slowly, everyone formed a queue, receiving the fasting pill and the so-called Immrotal technique.
Soon it was Yang Ze's turn, and just like everyone, he too received the pill and the book and just like everyone else, he too walked away, not wanting to interact with anyone else.
Inside the mines, as long as you completed your daily quota, it didn't matter what you spent the rest of your time on. If one were to talk about privacy... this place was truly one of the best.
With winding narrow paths leading further and further into the mines like a maze, it was easy to find a secluded space where no one would bother you. Besides... there were only twenty of them. So, the chances of them coming across each other were slim to none. At least, Yang Ze hadn't met a second soul while working during his time here, and neither had the previous body owner.
It wasn't until he found a relatively lone space that he stopped and clenched his fists in excitement. Due to the spiritual ores having natural luminosity, the entire cave didn't need any other source of light.
Yang Ze first swallowed the pill without any hesitation and then nervously took out the book. Thankfully, he inherited the basic knowledge along with memories from the previous body owner. This saved him from the embarrassment of not knowing the language.
"Gentle Breeze Method." Reading the name, Yang Ze wasn't disappointed. On the contrary, the simpler it sounded, the better it was in his eyes.
'The journey of cultivation begins not with great power, but with a single breath. The Gentle Breeze Method is a fundamental technique designed to guide new cultivators on this path. It is based on the principle that true strength lies in fluidity and harmony, like the soft wind that can erode stone over time. Master this first step by learning to feel the spiritual energy of the world, and let it flow naturally through your body's meridians. With patience, you will learn to change from a still rock to a flowing river, allowing the essence of all things to become part of you.'
"Uh!?" He could understand it, but at the same time couldn't. Shaking his head, he kept on reading.
It wasn't until almost half an hour had passed did he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The content in the book was vast and mysterious. Thankfully, the book had some basic information about the basics of cultivation.
According to it, one needs to have something called 'Spiritual Vein' in order to cultivate immortality. This spiritual vein exists inside someone's body in a state between real and unreal.
These spiritual veins also represent the very first realm of cultivation, known as 'Pulse Opening'.
According to the book, one needs to visualise the spiritual veins and then construct them using spiritual energy. Once someone constructs their first spiritual vein, they would step away from the ranks of mortals and reach the first stage of Pulse Opening. The more the number of spiritual veins present in one's body, the greater his or her talent is.
Those with nine spiritual veins only needed to construct them using spiritual energy, and those with fewer veins first need to visualise them, then shape them, then connect with other spiritual veins and finally construct them.
The more Yang Ze red, the more he felt at a loss.
"So, how many spiritual veins do I have?" Thinking about how he and other children working here were constantly called trash, he had a bad feeling about it.
Immediately closing his eyes, he tried to sense the so-called spiritual veins inside his body using the technique written in the book, and sure enough... after almost an hour, he felt the world around him go still as he seemed to have arrived in a blurry space with one long blurry vein that seemed to have no start or end.
"Only.... Only one?" Yang Ze began to search frantically, hoping to find another spiritual vein. But no matter how he searched, there were no changes. This place seemed to be frozen in time, with only a blurry silhouette.
"AAAH DAMN IT." Opening his eyes inside the cave, Yang Ze couldn't help but curse loudly. He was expecting at least five or six spiritual veins. But now...
"No wonder those bastards threw us here." Trying to calm himself, Yang Ze took a deep breath and was about to start his practice according to the instructions in the book when he suddenly felt his vision blur as a simple translucent screen popped in front of him.
[Name: Yang Ze]
[Age: 14/80]
[Realm: None]
[Talent: Bind]
"System?" Looking at the screen in front of him, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief before exclaiming in surprise. During these past few days, he had always dreamt of getting something like this to change his fate. Hell, he had even cried for the system a few times after his arrival. But who would have thought that it was only now that his desire was fulfilled.
"What... what is this talent?" Controlling his surging excitement, Yang Ze focused on the so-called talent, and when he did, a new message popped up in front of him.
[Bind: You can bind anything to gain respective rewards.]
"That's it?" Yang Ze blinked in confusion. The description was short and without much information.
He scratched his head in confusion as he looked around, and once he did, his eyes almost narrowed into slits.
His trusty pickaxe, which was placed beside him, had a white orb floating on top. Curiously, Yang Ze reached out to grab the pickaxe, and the moment he touched it, a small message popped up in front of him again.
[Bindable Target found. Can be bound to get the characteristic of Sharpness I ]