A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Tongxin Daoist's pupils contracted slightly. Upon seeing the blue lotus bud and the raging flames that were attacking back, any sliver of hope in his heart vanished completely.

The guide of the Azure Lotus Sect did not make a move on the surface, but in reality, he had already protected Zhou Ping. He no longer had any hope of killing Zhou Ping from his hands.

Even his life would be lost here.

The blue lotus buds gradually dispersed, leaving only a lotus shield in front of Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping stared blankly at the Luo Shenglian Shield in front of him, then looked at his own body, which was completely unharmed, before he finally came back to his senses from the terrifying experience he had just had.

He quickly stood up from the ground, bowed deeply to Yuan Zhengze, and...

"This humble one, Zhou Ping, thanks you for saving my life, senior!"

Just now, when Zhou Ping was about to be engulfed by the flames, several lotus leaves, exactly the same as the Luo Sheng Lotus Shield he cultivated, suddenly appeared around him.

These lotus leaves, sharing the same origin as the Luo Sheng Lotus Shield he cultivated, instantly connected with his lotus shield.

Then, to Zhou Ping's astonishment, it formed a lotus-bud-like flower bud, tightly protecting him within.

It was only then that he suddenly realized that it must have been that Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Azure Lotus Profound Sect who made the move, and only he could unleash the Azure Lotus Three Styles unique to the Azure Lotus Profound Sect.

Yuan Zhengze glanced at Zhou Ping, who was bowing deeply, his expressionless face showing no change in emotion, as if he were scrutinizing the young man before him.

Meanwhile, Tongxin Daoist on the other side had no time to spare to check on Zhou Ping's situation. The raging wind, carrying surging fire serpents, instantly engulfed him, the instigator.

Holding the Xuan Turtle Spirit Shield, he encountered the same predicament as Zhou Ping, having no way to stop the fire serpents spreading everywhere.

If the power of the Blazing Flame Talisman is equivalent to the full-force attack of a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

At this moment, the addition of Yuan Zhengze's casual use of the Gale Technique undoubtedly increased the power of this talisman by a significant margin.

Its power had long surpassed the threshold of the Qi Refining stage, and it was something that even a seventh-level Qi Refining stage cultivator like Tongxin Daoist could not withstand.

A scream erupted from the flames, laced with a deep-seated hatred.

"Zhou Ping! Even if I cannot kill you, my junior brother will still wipe out your entire family!"

"I'm going to make you experience the pain of losing a loved one!"

The screams of the Copper Heart Taoist did not last long before his figure turned to ashes under the watchful eyes of Zhou Ping and the others.

The only thing left on site was an exquisite storage bag; nothing else was there.

The fire attacks unleashed by cultivators were truly terrifying; this was the first time Zhou Ping had ever witnessed such power.

Recalling the terrifying scene just now, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.

If it weren't for the intervention of the Qinglian Xuanzong's guide, Tongxin Daoren would be the one to suffer the same fate.

Zhou Ping secretly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and happened to see the girl in the white dress staring at him with curiosity.

When the girl noticed that Zhou Ping's gaze had fallen on her, she tilted her head and gave him a half-smile, as if to say, "You're lucky, kid."

Having just escaped death, Zhou Ping rolled his eyes at the other person's slightly mocking expression without any politeness.

Upon seeing this, Gong Yiyi froze, wrinkled her delicate nose, and made a fierce yet cute expression at Zhou Ping.

After the Copper Heart Taoist turned to ashes, there was still one person in the arena who was already terrified.

This man was Bond, who had not made any retaliatory move.

He quickly abandoned any improper thoughts and simply waited quietly for the other party's judgment.

After seeing the Copper Heart Taoist turn to ashes, he felt even more grateful for his decision.

At this moment, Bond had already cursed the ancestors of the Copper Heart Taoist countless times in his heart.

Still not satisfied, he started cursing the old Taoist Mingxin again. If this old fellow hadn't chosen to help this cheap junior brother without understanding the whole story, he wouldn't have suffered such a disaster.

Seeing that only a trembling Bond remained in the arena, Xia Qianchuan reluctantly stepped forward and spoke to Yuan Zhengze.

"Junior Brother Yuan, although this person intends to harm this young friend, he has not yet succeeded."

"Having committed a grave error, yet still showing some semblance of decency, why not hand him over to Xia for further handling?"

When Yuan Zhengze saw Xia Qianchuan step forward to speak, he immediately dropped his cold expression and smiled, saying...

"Senior Brother Xia, you're too kind. Tianyan Town is under the jurisdiction of Guiyuan Pavilion. Since this matter has occurred, it is naturally your responsibility to handle it. Please don't blame me for overstepping my bounds."

"I'm just very curious, I wonder how Senior Brother Xia plans to deal with this person. After all, this kind of scoundrel has harmed countless fellow cultivators, he really cannot be let off lightly!"

Upon hearing Xia Qianchuan's words, Bond had already begun to feel grateful.

He was thrilled that such an important person would plead for him.

But Yuan Zhengze's next words were like a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing the hope that had just been ignited in his heart.

Although the other party outwardly agreed to hand him over to Xia Qianchuan for disposal, their underlying meaning was clear: they did not intend to let him go easily.

Xia Qianchuan naturally understood the meaning behind Yuan Zhengze's words, nodded in deep agreement, and said solemnly,

"Junior Brother Yuan, please don't misunderstand. I have no intention of letting him go."

"As you two junior brothers know, our Guiyuan Dao has many properties and has always been in dire need of manpower."

"This guy is at least a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator. It would be a waste to kill him. How about we punish him by sending him to the mines of my Guiyuan Dao to be a mine slave?"

Mining slaves?!

After Xia Qianchuan shared his thoughts, before Yuan Zhengze and Gong Yunting could react...

Bond, like a startled wild donkey, galloped wildly in the opposite direction.

To send him to be a mine slave? He'd rather be dead!

If we were to talk about who the most miserable people in the cultivation world are, it wouldn't be the rogue cultivators who struggle to make a living, nor would it be the low-level female cultivators who are helpless and willing to become someone else's furnace.

Instead, they were the mine slaves that Xia Qianchuan was talking about at that moment!

Spirit stone veins in the cultivation world are extremely difficult to mine, unlike gold and silver mines in the mortal world where a large number of mortal miners can be hired to mine them.

In the cultivation world, most of the spiritual mines are mined by cultivators with magical powers; mortals can only play a certain auxiliary role.

The biggest challenge faced by any faction that owns a spirit stone mine is often a shortage of personnel.

Therefore, in response to this situation, many forces chose to demote the most heinous criminals to mine slaves.

This would both punish them and solve the manpower shortage problem in the mine, making it a win-win situation.