Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

"That makes sense. Tell us, why has your cultivation improved so quickly?" someone asked impatiently.

"Is that what you're asking? It's actually quite simple. The reason I have achieved my current level of cultivation is entirely due to my diligent practice day and night. If you were like me, you would do the same," Lu Yan kindly encouraged.

"Hey Lu, are you kidding me? You're all mixed spiritual roots of the five elements. No matter how hard you cultivate, your cultivation level can't improve that quickly. Besides, you've only been cultivating for less than two years. Since you won't cooperate, don't blame us for being ruthless." With that, the leader waved his hand, and the others surrounded Lu Yan in perfect unison.

"Are you all about to make a move?" Lu Yan asked as he pulled a belt from his pocket and tied it around his waist.

"Hmph! Stubborn to the end, don't kill him, just leave him alive." The leader didn't take it seriously and said directly.

"Okay, huh?" Just as everyone was about to make their move, they suddenly felt something was wrong, and their legs involuntarily began to bend downwards.

"What's wrong with me?" someone exclaimed in alarm.

"Yes, why did I suddenly kneel down?"

"Huh? Why are you all kneeling down too?"

"I don't know~"

"Tsk tsk tsk~ Gentlemen, why are you being so polite? I've only improved my cultivation, it's not like I'm celebrating a big birthday, you're making me feel embarrassed." I didn't expect the king's belt to be so useful.

"It's you! You must have used some tricks!" Everyone looked around, but only Lu Yan in the middle did not kneel down. The leader pointed at Lu Yan and shouted loudly.

"Let us go right now, or we'll make you wish you were dead."

"Yes, let us go."

"It seems you all haven't grasped the situation yet. Well then, I'll help you out." Seeing the still-clamoring crowd, Lu Yan pressed his right hand down, and the group began to kowtow to him.

"How could this happen? Ah—I can't control my body."

"Spare me! Fellow Daoist Lu, spare me!" Finally, someone realized that they had become a lamb to the slaughter and begged for mercy.

"Sorry, I am not a kind person. Since you want to attack me, then you should be prepared to die." I wanted to play with them a little longer.

However, upon hearing the roars of beasts and with darkness falling, Lu Yan dared not linger in the wilderness.

"Fellow Daoists, you were careless today. Be sure to be a good person in your next life. Farewell." Lu Yan picked up the iron knife from the ground and sent them off one by one.

"Spare me! Spare me!"

"ah--"

"You can't kill me. I have a fellow villager from Qingye. If you kill me, Qingye won't let you off the hook." The leader could only threaten Lu Yan when he saw that Lu Yan had no intention of letting him go.

"Qingye? Sorry, I don't know, but even if I did, I wouldn't let you go." Lu Yan shook his head and came over with his knife.

"Let me tell you, Qingye is a major gang in Wuyou City, far beyond what a mere Qi Refining Level 2 like you can afford to offend. They can kill you as easily as crushing an ant," the man shouted as he died.

"What nonsense are you spouting? You've fallen to this state, either you're bragging and that Qingye is trash, or your fellow villager is trash. Do you think I need to be afraid of you?" Lu Yan was speechless and finished him off with a single stab.

After carefully examining the corpse, they found less than two spirit stones. The most valuable items besides those were the three knives.

"Damn poor bastard, wasting my props." On the way back, Lu Yan painfully stroked his king's belt. After using it, it had become an ordinary belt, with no other abilities besides looking good.

To be honest, if I had to choose, I would rather exchange my hands and feet for the king's belt.

After all, one is a group control and the other is a single control, but unfortunately there are too many people on the other side.

After returning, Lu Yan first wrote some gossip and learned that Manager Liu was currently seeking medical treatment everywhere and would not be returning to the mine for some time.

Lu Yan felt a little guilty towards him. After all, being cheated on by someone else was bad enough, and now he had been cheated on as well.

Don't worry, next time there's some weird potion, just let Steward Li experiment on it and get revenge for you.

Then I started to learn about Aono's situation.

Although he said he didn't care, he had to be careful. Before leaving, Lu Yan cut off a lock of hair from the leader's head.

"Sigh~ I've worked hard for a month and only earned four spirit stones. When will this end?"

I thought becoming a cultivator would make me a superior being, but I never expected to end up mining. If I'd known that, why bother cultivating this damn immortal path at all?

"..."

"I'm exhausted, I'm exhausted. I haven't had a good day. But if I work for a few more days, I'll be able to save up ten spirit stones."

"I'll buy some Spirit-Nourishing Pills then to raise my cultivation level. Once I break through to the second level of Qi Refining, I can earn more spirit stones."

"..."

"I was planning to buy Spirit Nourishing Pills today, but when I passed by the gambling den, I saw that people inside could easily win big. If I bet on these ten spirit stones, I could win twenty if I won."

Then I'd take twenty dollars and bet again. If I won, I'd have forty dollars. Then forty dollars would become eighty dollars, eighty dollars would become one hundred and sixty dollars. Wouldn't I be rich then? Why would I need to mine anymore?

"Sure enough, I'm really lucky. In less than half a day, my ten spirit stones turned into thirty. I'll put the matter of selling the Spirit Nourishing Pills aside for now."

Tonight I'm going to the Drunken Flower Pavilion to order a few young ladies. I used to only dare to look, but now that I have spirit stones, I'm going to order five.

"Ah—I invested all my spirit stones today, how could this happen?"

It was fine at first, I should have stopped after the first few rounds, but why can't I control myself?

Now things are really messed up; I don't have a single spirit stone left. Forget about buying Spirit Nourishing Pills, I can't even afford Grain-Breaking Pills. How am I going to survive?"

"..."

"Kid, don't blame me. Blame yourself for being careless. Who told you to let me see you collecting spirit stones?"

"I don't want to kill you either. Wouldn't it be better if you just gave me the spirit stones? Then you wouldn't have to die."

"These spirit stones are my chance to turn my life around. Today, I will definitely earn back all the spirit stones I lost before."

"Damn it, I've lost everything again. I should have saved a spirit stone to gamble again tomorrow. It must be just bad luck today. Tomorrow will be better."

"Sigh~ Where can I get more spirit stones? I really don't feel like mining anymore. Spirit stones come too slowly. If only there were more people like that kid from yesterday."

"Hmph! Everyone looks out for themselves, so I won't hold back. This is a dog-eat-dog world."

"..."

"Although we've succeeded a few times, one person is still a bit outnumbered. Last time I almost died at that kid's hands. I need to find some more people to work with."

"Sure enough, the more people there are, the more intimidated they become. I didn't even have to say anything; they were so scared that they took out all their spirit stones."

"..."