The Profound Gold Mine was a vast quarry carved into the side of a mountain range. Thousands of Ascenders—people who were once emperors and sect masters in their lower worlds—were now dressed in rags, hitting rocks with pickaxes.
They wore Suppressing Collars that sealed 90% of their cultivation.
Mo Tian walked into the main camp. He wasn't wearing rags. He was wearing Captain Luo's golden armor (which he had resized and dyed black with his Qi).
Behind him, the nine surviving guards marched nervously, carrying Mo Tian's "luggage" (Luo's severed head).
"Listen up!" A guard shouted, his voice trembling. "New management!"
The miners looked up, dead-eyed. They had seen overseers change before. It usually meant harder quotas.
Mo Tian walked to the central platform. He tossed Luo's head onto the floor.
The miners gasped. They recognized the tyrant.
"My name is Mo Tian," he announced.
"I am not here to free you," Mo Tian said coldly. "I am here to rob you."
The miners murmured. What?
"The Profound Gold Sect demands 10,000 stones a month from this camp," Mo Tian paced the stage. "If you fail, they kill you. If you succeed, they let you live to work another month."
"I am changing the deal."
He pointed to the pile of pickaxes.
"From today, we don't mine for the Sect. We mine for Me."
"And what will you do?" An old man, a former Sword Saint from a lower world, shouted. "If we don't pay the tribute, the Sect will send an Army! You killed a Captain, but they have Earth Immortals! They have Sky Immortals!"
"Let them come," Mo Tian smiled.
He activated the [System: Blueprint Mode].
"While they are coming... we are going to turn this mine into a fortress."
He looked at the high-grade Immortal Stones embedded in the canyon walls. To others, they were currency. To Mo Tian, they were batteries for his System.
"System," Mo Tian commanded internally. "Scan the mine. Estimated resources?"
[Scan Complete.] [Profound Gold Ore: 50 Tons.] [Immortal Spirit Stones: 5 Million.] [Hidden Anomaly Detected Deep Underground: Ancient Fossil.]
"Perfect."
Mo Tian looked at the miners.
"I can break your collars," Mo Tian lied (he could only break them one by one, slowly, but they didn't know that). "But only if you swear loyalty to the Eternal Night."
"I can give you your cultivation back. I can give you revenge."
He picked up Luo's head and crushed it.
"Or you can keep digging until you die. Choice is yours."
The old Sword Saint looked at the broken collar on Mo Tian's wrist (which he had snapped earlier). He looked at the dead Captain.
He dropped his pickaxe and knelt.
"I pledge my sword."
One by one, the Ascenders knelt. They were desperate men, and Mo Tian offered them the only thing valuable in hell: Hope wrapped in violence.
[Faction Founded: Eternal Night (Upper Realm Branch).] [Members: 1,000 Ascenders.] [Resources: High.] [Threat: Profound Gold Sect Retaliation (ETA: 3 Days).]
Mo Tian sat on the wooden chair of the overseer.
"Three days," Mo Tian mused. "Time enough to build a welcome party."