Omari was laid on the bed, hands and legs each tied to one corner of the bed. One of the yellow-robed cultivators stepped forward, uncoiling his whip with a practiced flick of his wrist.
A sharp,distinctive hiss of a whip uncoiling through the air echoed, the lash catching Omari high on the back. Omari gritted his teeth, groaning in pain.
The cultivator didn't pause.
Crack!
Another blow landed,then another and another in a ruthless, brutal rhythm. The initial, sharp pains began to merge into a single roaring inferno across Omari's back.
A scream tore itself from Omari's throat,but the cultivator only grunted with effort, his arm rising and falling until, finally, he stopped, chest heaving and arm trembling from the exertion. He tossed the whip to his companion with a disgusted snort.
"My turn,"the second man said, his sly grin widening. He didn't just swing; he put his whole body into it, the whip cracking like thunder in the small cave room.
Omari focused everything on the rough ropes binding his wrists,his fingers clawing into the strings until his nails threatened to break.
The man continued swinging,grunting with every ruthless strike. A green glow lit up in his eyes, his expression sharp and serious as he pulled on the ropes binding him. He ground his teeth together, the pressure building until he tasted the coppery tang of blood welling from his gums. No more screams. Only ragged, shuddering breaths escaped him, the intensity of the glow in his eyes screaming rage and hate.
After a while,the man paused, breathing heavily. He passed the whip back to his friend, who quickly continued from where his friend left off. Veins bulged on Omari's forehead and neck. Each new lash seared across the raw, torn flesh of his back. Even though Omari was still a child, the cultivators showed no mercy.
After a while,Omari's eyelids started lowering; his body was slumped on the hard bed, powerless. His eyes landed on Mo Jie's emotionless expression before everything went black.
The man lifted his whip.
Enough!
Mo Jie ordered.The man quickly stopped, putting his whip away.
"Untie him and give him a stamina pill,then let him get back to work."
The men bowed and quickly untied Omari.One of them threw a white pill down his throat and after a few seconds, Omari slowly started to open his eyes. The two cultivators quickly grabbed him and dragged him out of the room, dropping him off at his post.
Omari dragged his body up,still feeling the pain from the whipping he got; his robe was bloody at the back, and he grabbed his pickaxe and started swinging.
"What did they give me?I feel so good... Who knew mining could be so fun," Omari thought, a small smile appearing on his face while he continued mining.
At the centre of the mine,Mo Jie stood with the yellow-robed cultivators that worked in the mines.
"That Omari Siwang will only get three pills at the end of the week instead of five,and three spirit stones instead of five; it's part of his punishment," Mo Jie passed down the order.
After he was done,he flew out of the mines on his flying sword and pulled out his token, leaving the sect.
At the Rising Sky Academy,Fang Lei was in his room cultivating.
"Fang Lei!"
Mo Jie's voice thundered through the walls.
Fang Lei's eyes snapped open. Cold sweat slid down his spine. He scrambled to his feet and rushed to the door, opening it with shaking hands.
Mo Jie stepped inside without waiting for permission. His presence alone felt like a blade pressed against Fang Lei's throat.
"Senior Mo Jie," Fang Lei bowed deeply, "what brings—"
A blast of qi exploded from Mo Jie's body.
Fang Lei was hit by the qi and flew across the room and slammed into the far wall, collapsing to the floor. Blood splattered from his mouth.
"You hid the truth."
Mo Jie's tone was calm.Too calm.
"You almost dragged the Celestial Gate Sect into a war…because of your cowardice."
Fang Lei trembled, forehead pressed against the ground.
"Senior,forgive me! I only wanted protection! I—I didn't think—"
"You didn't think," Mo Jie repeated coldly.
"I nearly lost my white robe because of your stupidity."
Fang Lei's breath hitched. His body shook uncontrollably.
Mo Jie stepped closer, boots stopping just inches from Fang Lei's bowed head.
"The Sect Master has resolved the issue. But you—"
He leaned down slightly.
"—now belong to the Celestial Gate Sect."
Fang Lei's heart froze.
"At the end of every month," Mo Jie continued,
"you will deliver five strong,healthy young men to our sect."
Fang Lei's hands dug into the floorboards. There was no refusing. No escape. Only submission.
Mo Jie straightened and turned toward the door.
"Don't worry," he said, voice light, almost amused,
"we take care of our people.Expect generous pay."
He stepped outside, rose into the sky on his flying sword, and his final words echoed through the courtyard,
"Do not disappoint me, Fang Lei."
Fang Lei sat down, breathing in and out, loud sighs of relief; he had survived.
"I only wanted to live a nice and quiet life cultivating in peace,but that life seems hell-bent on evading me."
Back at the Celestial Gate Sect in the mines. The air was thick enough to chew, a foul stew of rock dust, sweat, and the acrid smoke of the tallow dips. The only sounds were the rhythmic, punishing clink-clink-clink of pickaxes and the ragged symphony of the miners' tired breaths.
The energy pill Omari had taken started to wear off.He felt a bit dizzy but kept on mining. His eyes scanned around; he needed rest but didn't want to get hit; his back was already in enough pain from the beating he had received.
After watching the other miners,he realized that a miner could only rest for at least thirty seconds before getting whipped and forced to get back to work. He placed his pickaxe down and sat, stretching his back, counting the seconds. When he reached twenty-five, he quickly picked up his pickaxe and got back to work.
After hours of grueling work,a whistle rang out across the mines and all the miners started running to their cave rooms.
Omari followed,going to his own assigned room. He dropped his pickaxe on the ground and sat on the bed resting.
He looked to the entrance and saw the other miners holding bowls and dragging their tired bodies to a line.Understanding that it was time to eat, he grabbed a clay bowl in the corner of his room and followed the others in a straight line.
The line was long,stinking with the smells of sweat and rotten flesh. Some of the people in the mines hadn't seen a bath in many weeks. Even though it smelled bad, Omari had to force himself; if he was to survive this, he needed to do anything to survive.
Omari stood in line for a while since it was too long.Once he reached the front, there was a huge pot filled with what seemed like porridge, just a brown mixture with blue steam. He extended his bowl and a man scooped up the porridge with a huge ladle and poured it into Omari's bowl.
"Next!"
Omari took his bowl and went to his room.Looking at the porridge, he could tell that something was wrong with it, but he also knew that he needed the energy it would provide.
"Anything to survive,"he murmured and instantly started drinking the porridge. Its sour taste poked at Omari's tongue, but he closed his eyes, forcing himself to swallow it.
If he was ever going to escape,he needed to cultivate. He sat down cross-legged on the bed and started circulating his body's natural qi. He was used to it now; the only thing left to do was to breakthrough.
"I don't have any spirit stones.Huh," he deeply sighed.
"If I'm ever going to escape,I need a breakthrough to the Spiritualist realm."
He placed his hand on his forehead,thinking about everything that he saw and everything that had happened.
"Wait,that man said some of us may have a chance to join the sect and become an official disciple of the sect. The only way is to prove ourselves. Is that my only way of surviving this?"
Joining the Celestial Sect would hurt his pride.In his mind, everything he had gone through was enough reason for him to want to destroy the entire sect.
A sudden sense of giddiness erupted in his body.Omari started smiling, everything seeming funny to him.
"Ha ha ha,so I have to submit to the ones I hate to survive, wow I am so doomed, ha ha ha ha. Today five miners died, ha ha ha, life sure is funny."
He lay on the bed,looking at the ceiling, and he could see the stone on the ceiling moving as if chasing each other.
"Escape,stone, run," he cheered, laughing until he passed out asleep.
The next day,a loud noise of someone banging on a metal sheet rang out in the mines and all the miners quickly woke up, grabbing their pickaxes and going to their posts. Omari quickly grabbed his and followed to his post and waited.
Begin!A man yelled.
And thus the mining began.Every time a spirit stone showed, the miners would quickly grab it and throw it into the provided pouches. Omari stopped to rest for a few seconds; when he turned around, his eyes met with the eyes of another young man, someone he knew.
Yufan.