Celestial Official!

"I, a humble commoner from Mount Gumang, humbly pay my respects to the esteemed Lady Yuxiu!"

……

Upgrade?

I?

The sudden turn of events left Yan Chen feeling quite surprised.

Do ordinary servants, who are like cattle and horses, deserve the title of "superior servants"?

However, he did not show any abnormality, but instead subtly glanced at the expressions of those around him.

Although he was slightly surprised to find these mortal servants, these feelings quickly disappeared, and he accepted the mortals' worship with equanimity, as if it were the proper thing to do.

These ordinary servants are considered consumables or cattle in the Jade Sleeve Sect, but in their respective hometowns and Taoist schools, they are all outstanding talents.

He was intimately familiar with the hierarchy between the orthodox lineage and ordinary people.

"If that incident hadn't happened, perhaps I would have been one of them..."

Yan Chen couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

"The difference between immortals and mortals is like an insurmountable chasm. No matter how ambitious or talented you are, if you are born into the mortal world, you are destined to be denied the inheritance of the Dharma lineage, let alone the opportunity to join the Daoist tradition."

"If one is single-minded in cultivating the Tao, one can only devote oneself to heretical sects and become a wandering cultivator, hiding all day long and unable to see the light of day."

How tragic, how helpless!

Seeing that the heat was just right, Chen Xuyang reached out and pinched a wisp of beard at the corner of his mouth, chuckling as he said:

"The reclamation of resources should be done sooner rather than later. The work sheds and dormitories are not far ahead. Please, my esteemed ladies, come with me."

"Elder Chen, you are too kind. We are newcomers here, and we will have to rely on you for everything!"

Xu Hui stepped forward, speaking in a very humble tone.

He was known for his restless and unruly nature within the Forging Academy, and his seemingly genuine but actually fake nepotistic relationship with Lü Mao was also well-known to the mortal servants of the Three Academies.

Therefore, everyone assumed that the supervisor had arranged it in advance to show off their magnanimity, and no one questioned it further. At most, they would think to themselves, "A busybody!"

Yan Chen's eyes blazed with fury, but he sensed something was amiss.

His gaze swept over the crowd, but he noticed nothing amiss. So he paused among the group of ordinary people, all of whom were obedient with their heads bowed and eyes lowered.

As Yan Chen's eyes flickered, he suddenly glanced at someone.

But he appeared calm and composed, neither humble nor arrogant, his eyes fixed on Xu Hui's direction, bright and piercing.

"This person looks familiar... Could it be him!?"

In an instant, the somewhat dim scene flashed before my eyes like a revolving lantern.

Heavy snow, carriages and horses, shouts of killing, blood... and a pair of hands that pushed him away.

A certain string in Yan Chen's heart seemed to be touched, and a mixture of emotions arose in his heart. He subconsciously clenched his fists, and his eyes gradually turned cold.

But it happened in the blink of an eye.

He suppressed his surging emotions and returned to normal, but his brows remained furrowed, as if he were pondering something.

Meanwhile, the group of ordinary soldiers, guided by Chen Xuyang, slowly made their way along the rugged mountain path.

On both sides, jagged peaks stand side by side, and several sheds and mines are faintly visible in front. Not far away, there is a sparse forest with tree trunks so thick that two people can hug them.

Chen Xuyang addressed the crowd:

"Mount Gumang was once the ancestral home of my Gumang Chen clan. It is rich in limestone, minerals and timber. For this reason, it was selected by the Jade Sleeve and designated as a resource area."

“The arduous and miscellaneous tasks of mining, logging, and burning ash are to be done by ordinary people. Your duty is to coordinate and supervise these ordinary people so that they can cultivate more resources.”

"Not far ahead lies the Chen family's territory. If any of you have any urgent matters, you may find us there."

Chen Xuyang paced back and forth, pointed to a small courtyard at the end of the mountain path, and casually instructed two members of the Chen family to stay and guard the place.

Only then did he and the rest of the Chen family ride away.

With guidance from two other members of the Chen family, the dozen or so ordinary servants also did not encounter any major problems.

After each group selected about twenty ordinary people, they went to guard the mines, dense forests, and ash kilns according to their respective workshops.

Since it would only take three days anyway, and he didn't know much about these ordinary people, Yan Chen casually picked out about twenty ordinary people and headed towards a mine.

It wasn't as big as he had imagined. The so-called "mine" was just a dark cave carved into the mountainside, no more than three feet long and wide.

An oil lamp hangs above the cave entrance, and by its light, one can vaguely see the narrow stone steps and the crisscrossing wooden frame inside.

By this time, ordinary people carrying pickaxes were already going down into the mine one after another, shoulder to shoulder, their bodies swallowed up by the entrance, and soon they disappeared from sight.

Seeing this, Yan Chen was speechless, realizing that the so-called responsibility of "dispatch and supervision" was nothing but empty talk.

Firstly, he doesn't understand the principles of stone mining and quarrying, so how could he possibly manage it?

Secondly, these ordinary people are hardworking and sensible, and they never cheat or shirk their duties, so they don't need him to supervise them at all.

"So it seems that reclaiming resources is actually a relatively easy job?"

With this thought in mind, Yan Chen looked at the others and saw that nearly half of the laborers were not paying much attention to the matter of "reclaiming materials" and had turned around to rest in the nearby work shed.

Then, he looked in the direction where Xu Hui was.

However, the other person did not enter the work shed, but stood near the mine like him, currently talking quietly with an ordinary person, occasionally glancing around as if afraid of being noticed.

Seeing the "ordinary person's" face clearly again, Yan Chen slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, turned around, and entered the work shed.

……

Time flies like an arrow.

The setting sun, like blood, bathed the continuous mountain range of Gumang Mountain, where the mountains clustered together and the valleys were shrouded in miasma; in another corner of the world, a jade plate hung high, the cold moonlight shining, and frost formed on the ground.

Two different landscapes, facing each other.

Inside Mount Gumang, Yan Chen lifted the curtain of the work shed and glanced around. He saw that the oil lamps on the top of the mine shafts looked even brighter, and the sound of them being knocked could be faintly heard.

Looking at the other work sheds, they were all brightly lit, and no one was out. As for the two members of the Chen clan, they had long since gone off to rest somewhere.

Seeing that no one was around, Yan Chen's brows furrowed again. He tightened his cotton robe and quietly left the work shed.

They silently approached the shed where Xu Hui was.

……

Inside the shed, at the table.

slam-la-

After counting the ten thousand coins in his hand for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Xu Hui, with a broad smile on his face, finally put them away close to his body.

He immediately picked up a glass of wine, raised it to the person in front of him, and said:

"Brother Zhang, you've really done me a huge favor this time!"

"Don't worry, you won't get this 10,000 yuan for nothing!"

"As long as you successfully become the manager of Cui Shu Lou, you'll definitely get a share of the rewards!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Quan laughed heartily, casually took off his plain cloth cap, and rubbed his bald head.

"Brother Xu, are you getting on my nerves now?"

"In the letter that Master Zeng wrote to me, he said that sending you money this time was just a side thing. What we are really planning is to take advantage of this opportunity to steal the Jade Sleeve Sect's resources!"

"How could I possibly care about a mere ten thousand coins?"

Zhang Quan became increasingly smug as he spoke, rubbing his hands together and chuckling:

"Moreover, I obtained this money quite easily. I snatched it from a caravan of ordinary people. There were ordinary martial arts masters in the caravan who tried to resist, but I killed them with a single slash!"

"I saw a pretty woman in the caravan and wanted to take advantage of her, but she turned out to be a woman of strong character. She committed suicide, splattering blood all over the ground, which ruined my mood."

"In the end, they simply killed everyone in the entire convoy!"

"The only regret is that one kid escaped, but it doesn't matter. Look at his pathetic, stray dog-like appearance; he's probably already rotting away in some wilderness!"

Xu Hui was greatly shocked and praised:

"Brother Zhang is truly formidable! To possess such formidable combat power at just the first level of Qi Refining, his future is immeasurable!"

Zhang Quan, feeling the effects of his drunkenness and flattered by Xu Hui, couldn't help but feel a little smug.

"Don't say that. Although I have exceptional talent and unparalleled luck, and am a cultivation prodigy that even the underworld would find hard to find..."

"But in the end, it was a life of living on the edge."

"If you kill someone in the morning, you might be killed yourself that evening. Who can say for sure?"

"Who dares to kill my brother Zhang? I'll be the first to deal with him!"

Xu Hui glared fiercely, looking menacing.

The two then toasted and chatted for a while.

Zhang Quan waved his hand, rubbing his bald head, and said:

"Alright, alright, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. There might be Chen family members patrolling at night, so I have to go down into the mine."

"Brother Zhang, shall I see you off?"

"No need. I've been at the first level of Qi Refining for a long time. What harm could I possibly suffer in this shabby place?"

As they were talking, Zhang Quan walked out of the work shed.

However, they were not in a hurry to go down into the mine.

Instead, he reached out and unbuckled his trousers, then strode slowly toward the cliff not far away.

"Shh..."

With his eyes slightly narrowed and whistling, Zhang Quan struck a pose, spitting water like a dragon, looking quite pleased with himself.

Huhu——

Suddenly, a cold wind seemed to blow, bringing a chill. Zhang Quan shivered violently, and his hands immediately became wet.

"Damn it, I used to be able to pee three feet deep even against the wind, but now I'm really weak..."

He cursed and rubbed his hands against his trousers, both sides.

Just as I was about to turn around, a chilling voice seemed to come with the wind, penetrating deep into my ears.

"Are you a cultivation prodigy even the underworld would find hard to find?"

"Who's there!?"

Zhang Quan trembled all over, his heart filled with terror. He quickly turned around, wanting to see who it was!

The next moment, a powerful and hard object slammed down on his face!

In an instant, Zhang Quan's bones snapped, hot blood spurted from his throat and nose, his mind went blank, and he fell helplessly off the cliff like a broken sack.

About two breaths later—

A muffled sound could be faintly heard in the darkness.

……