Forced to become a pure and innocent female pharmacist in order to cultivate immortality.

For the next leg of the journey, the two encountered no further trouble and successfully arrived at the southern mining area of ​​the Yunxia Sect. There, a Dao Palace Level 1 cultivator and dozens of Wheel Sea Realm cultivators guarded the area. Of course, they had also hired many rogue cultivators to help them mine.

From afar, the two could see a mining valley protected by an array. This place was originally just a small cave, but through long-term excavation, the cave grew larger and larger, eventually becoming a mining valley. This place mainly produces black iron, obsidian crystal, and other refining materials.

The area around the mine was patrolled by disciples of the Yunxia Sect. They quickly noticed someone approaching and immediately went to intercept them. However, when they saw that the person was Lin Aoxue, they immediately showed a surprised expression.

"Greetings, Senior Sister Lin and Senior Sister Ye. Welcome to our Southern Mining Valley." The leading disciple said respectfully.

"Hmm, this mining area shouldn't have any trouble, right?" Lin Aoxue asked casually.

Upon hearing this, the disciples exchanged glances and shook their heads simultaneously, but the perceptive Lin Aoxue sensed something strange about their expressions.

After saying that, she didn't waste any more time and flew directly to the mining area. The patrolling disciples immediately informed the steward and the head disciple in charge of the mining area of ​​Lin Aoxue's arrival.

Looking down into a pavilion in the mining area, a core disciple of the Spirit Pattern Realm was having sex with a female cultivator. Of course, the one he was toying with was not a disciple of the Cloud Mist Sect, but a rogue cultivator recruited by the mining area.

"Hey? Get off me, I have something to take care of." The core disciple who was enjoying the female cultivator's service quickly pushed her off and hurriedly put on his clothes.

"Oh dear, Lord Liang, what could be more important than having someone serve you?" the charming woman asked, somewhat puzzled.

This is one of the three disciples in charge, named Liang Cheng, who is in the mid-stage of the Spirit Pattern Realm.

“Our Yunxia Sect’s young sect leader has come to inspect, I have to hurry and greet him. You should also get dressed quickly and stay here, don’t go anywhere,” Liang Cheng reminded him.

"Oh, sir, what reward did you promise me?" the woman asked hurriedly.

"Don't worry, I won't shortchange you on the promised reward," Liang Cheng replied casually.

After saying that, he quickly left.

As for this seemingly charming woman, her expression immediately underwent a complete 180-degree change after Liang Cheng left.

"Ugh..." The woman turned around, covered her mouth, and vomited violently.

The reaction was like eating something disgusting, as disgusting as could be.

Meanwhile, Lin Aoxue and her companion had already passed through the formation and flown into the mining area, landing on the ground. However, upon arriving here, the atmosphere struck Lin Aoxue as somewhat strange.

Because the miners and independent cultivators hired here are all wearing shackles and their powers are restricted. Don't they look like prisoners?

You see, in her mind, they had an employer-employee relationship, not a slave relationship.

"Young Sect Master, what brings you to our Southern Mining Area?" A middle-aged man, accompanied by several disciples, walked over from another direction with a smile.

Lin Aoxue gave the other party a slight bow.

"Deacon Yunrui, fellow disciples, what's the deal with these hired rogue cultivators?" Lin Aoxue asked, pointing at the rogue cultivators after greeting them.

When Yunrui saw Lin Aoxue approaching and immediately inquiring about the miners, his smile vanished.

"Eh? Well, Young Sect Master, let's go inside and talk first. I'm only responsible for security here. You'll have to ask them about management matters," Yun Rui quickly said.

Ye Liuyun didn't speak. With Lin Aoxue by her side, it was best for her to remain silent, but she also felt that there was something wrong with the mining area.

Lin Aoxue did not immediately cause trouble, but followed them into a pavilion.

However, not long after entering, Liang Cheng handed Lin Aoxue a storage bag.

suddenly.

"What does this mean?" Lin Aoxue stared blankly at the storage bag on the table.

Liang glanced at Yun Rui, but Yun Rui pretended not to see him.

"Senior Sister Lin, you've worked hard inspecting our southern mining area. These are just some small tokens from us junior brothers and sisters. Please accept them."

Upon hearing this, Lin Aoxue knew that something must have happened here; they were trying to silence her with spirit stones.

Lin Aoxue casually picked up the storage bag and glanced at it. She found that there were at least two hundred thousand spirit stones inside, which was a lot for disciples like them.

Not everyone is Ye Liuyun.

After reading it, Lin Aoxue immediately put it back on the table and then questioned her with her arms crossed.

"Deacon Yunrui, I don't think you need to pull this stunt. Just tell me, what exactly did you do?"

Seeing that Lin Aoxue refused to accept the spirit stones, Yunrui and the others were at a loss. After thinking for a moment, Deacon Yunrui gestured to Liang Cheng, asking him to explain.

But how could they explain this? They all stammered and didn't know how to answer.

Lin Aoxue had already roughly guessed what was going on. Before she came, Elder Yunming reminded her that there were problems inside these mines, and due to her status and division of labor, it was not appropriate for her to say anything. If Lin Aoxue discovered any problems, she should correct them in time.

This was also one of the tasks Yun Yun assigned to Lin Aoxue.

Lin Aoxue's inspection was not announced to the mining areas in advance, so they had no time to prepare. Therefore, the patrolling disciples were somewhat flustered when they saw Lin Aoxue.

"You won't talk about it, huh? Fine, then I'll ask you myself. What's going on with those miners in the mining area who are wearing shackles and whose cultivation is suppressed?" Lin Aoxue questioned.

However, these people can answer this question.

"This? Senior Sister Lin, they were all criminals who were caught stealing materials. Our mining area has regulations that stipulate that stealing materials will be punished," Liang Cheng explained.

He is the main disciple in charge here, and he is responsible for management matters.

Yunrui is in charge of security here. When there is no security incident, he doesn't care about the affairs here, so he never speaks.

"But looking around, do all the miners steal materials?" Lin Aoxue asked again.

"Huh? This? There's definitely no such thing. There are only a few. We deliberately placed them in conspicuous locations to warn everyone," Liang Cheng added.

Upon hearing this, Lin Aoxue immediately stood up, then led Ye Liuyun out of the pavilion and into one of the mine shafts.

Liang Cheng and the others exchanged glances and then quickly followed. There were still quite a few miners in the mine. These miners were not wearing shackles or having their cultivation restricted, but they all looked very listless, as if they hadn't eaten for a long time.

They are all cultivators at the Sea of ​​Wheels realm, and they all need to eat. However, what they eat is either spiritual energy or fasting pills. According to the regulations, the Cloud Mist Sect is obligated to provide these miners with fasting pills and monthly wages. No matter how tired they are, they should not be in this state.

"Senior Sister Lin, see? We didn't lie to you, did we?" Liang Cheng said with a forced smile.

But Lin Aoxue still didn't believe it, so she casually stopped a female miner.

"Fellow Daoist, what's wrong with you all? Why are you all so listless?" Lin Aoxue asked, looking at the woman with panda eyes.

The woman wanted to say something after seeing Lin Aoxue, but when she saw Liang Cheng and the others beside her, she dared not speak, because the threatening look in Liang Cheng's eyes was very strong.

Ye Liuyun also happened to see Liang Cheng's kind eyes.

“Fellow Daoist, I am a direct disciple of the Yunxia Sect. I am not with them. If you have been treated unfairly here, you can tell me directly,” Lin Aoxue said again.

Upon hearing this, the woman's initially frightened expression immediately turned into excitement.

She suddenly knelt down and hugged Lin Aoxue's legs.

"Fairy, you must save us! The disciples of your Yunxia Sect are too much! They tricked us into coming here, didn't pay us, and even imprisoned our power and bound our bodies, forcing us to work day and night. They won't let us leave. If this continues, we'll die here sooner or later!" the female cultivator cried out in despair.

But as soon as the woman finished speaking, Liang Cheng and the other two became anxious.

"Nonsense, Senior Sister, don't listen to this guy's gossip, there's no such thing," Liang Cheng quickly retorted.

But since this woman has already said it, she's definitely going to take a gamble and go all in.

"I'm talking nonsense? Fairy, you have no idea how perverted your junior brother is. Every day he demands that we female cultivators who have turned from men serve him and satisfy his perverted desires. You must save us!" This female cultivator dropped another bombshell.

Upon hearing this, Ye Liuyun and Lin Aoxue were dumbfounded, staring at Liang Cheng in disbelief.

No wonder that charming female cultivator vomited profusely after serving this guy; I never expected him to have such a fetish.

Aside from the patrolling disciples of the Yunxia Sect, there are no female miners in this mining area. These so-called female miners were all men before.

"Little girl, there's a lot of resentment in that cave over there. I suggest you go and take a look," Lin Qingyou suddenly reminded her in a serious tone.

Upon hearing this, Ye Liuyun raised an eyebrow, then walked to Lin Aoxue's side and whispered a few words to her. After listening, Lin Aoxue immediately led the female cultivator away.

"Fellow Daoist, follow me. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Junior Brother Liang, I think you'd better think about how to answer me. Will you tell the truth, or continue to deceive me?" Lin Aoxue left these words and walked directly towards another cave in the mining area.

Liang Cheng became increasingly frightened.

He immediately transmitted his voice to Deacon Yunrui.

“Deacon Yunrui, you have to help the three of us! We give you so much money every month, you can’t pretend you don’t know anything about it.”

But Yunrui definitely can't interfere.

"So what do you want to do? Lin Aoxue is at the height of her power right now. You must have heard how strong she is. Considering the three of you have been so kind to me, my advice is to run away as soon as possible. Maybe there's a chance of survival," Yun Rui said.

However, Liang Cheng couldn't accept this outcome. But he saw the direction Lin Aoxue was heading, and that place held a secret. Once Lin Aoxue discovered it, they would definitely have no chance of survival.

The three exchanged glances, then slowed their pace, gradually distancing themselves from Lin Aoxue.

Just as they were about to take off and run away, Ye Liuyun appeared behind them without them noticing.

"What are you three senior brothers doing?" Ye Liuyun asked with a smile.

The three of them immediately felt a chill run down their spines; this time, they had no way to retreat.

"Are you three junior brothers trying to run away? I won't allow it. You'd better come with me to that mine." Lin Aoxue's voice reached the three of them.

At the same time, the three of them also sensed a strong aura of death, as if they would be doomed if they refused Lin Aoxue.

Forced by Lin Aoxue's power, the three had no choice but to follow. However, as soon as they arrived at the mine entrance, Lin Aoxue felt a strong yin energy rushing towards them.

Such a dense aura of yin energy can only mean one thing: many people died in this cave.

"Fellow Daoist, do you know what happened inside this cave?" Lin Aoxue took a deep breath and then asked the fellow Daoist beside her.

The woman looked at the cave with a face full of terror.

“This, fairy, this place may be the final resting place for us. Although we are all cultivators, if we are not given supplies or allowed to rest, we will eventually be exhausted to death. I only know that those cultivators who die from exhaustion will eventually be carried into this cave.” The female cultivator explained tremblingly.

Chapter 212 Returning to the Inner Enclosure

Ye Liuyun felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this. To work a cultivator to death, one must be under immense pressure.

Lin Aoxue immediately clenched her fists. Although she had long expected that sects like theirs, which appeared glamorous on the surface, must have some filth and corruption hidden behind the scenes.

"Hehe, Liang Cheng, how do you explain this? No wonder the sect sent me on a surprise attack. It was the right decision. I was thinking, if I had notified you in advance that I was coming to inspect the southern mining area, would you have prepared in advance to deal with me?" Lin Aoxue turned around and looked at Liang Cheng with a forced smile.

The moment Liang Cheng and the other two learned that Lin Aoxue had conducted a surprise inspection of their mining area, they knew that their affair could no longer be kept secret; they were just clinging to a sliver of hope.

What exactly happened? Actually, the fact that the disciples in charge of the mining area were lining their own pockets was not a big secret in the Yunxia Sect. The cultivation world is a world where profit is paramount.

They join cultivation sects to gain more benefits, right? Now that they have power, it's perfectly acceptable for them to do some shady things in secret, as long as it doesn't harm the sect's interests.

After all, what do the interests of other people have to do with a cultivation sect other than its own sect's interests?

Ever since Liang Cheng first came to this mining area to carry out a mission and discovered that it was profitable, she began to use her authority to continuously extract profits from the mining area. As the person in charge here, she had too many ways to line her own pockets from the mining area.

At first, he tampered with the materials produced, but gradually his appetite grew, and in order to stay here for a long time, he secretly bribed many people.

The cultivation world is not the mortal world. In the mortal world, you might be prosecuted for accepting bribes, but in the cultivation world, giving benefits to the strong is a perfectly normal thing.

Not only that, this guy also spent spirit stones to bribe the sect cultivators who came to inspect the mining area, telling them not to talk about what was going on here.

These people don't care. As long as the mining area's revenue targets are met every month and every year, everything else is a minor issue.

Liang Cheng started becoming insatiable about three years ago. He began to deceive rogue cultivators into working in the mining area, and then took the opportunity to imprison their cultivation, restrict their freedom, and give them only a small amount of fasting pills instead of spirit stones, forcing them to mine endlessly.

Such intense work would probably kill an ordinary person in a few days, but a cultivator could endure it for months without any problem. In the end, it became more and more extreme, and they stopped giving him a full month's supply of fasting pills.

After exhausting a group of people to death, they would go on to deceive others. The disciples in the mining area, having received benefits from Liang Cheng and his group, naturally helped Liang Cheng cover it up. A few disciples, unable to tolerate this behavior, reported it to the sect. Yun Yun also knew about this matter and had considered punishing these people.

But this interest group is too big; even the sect's elders and deacons are involved, and there are even direct disciples among them. It's not easy to deal with.

Most importantly, he did not harm the sect's interests, so how should he be punished? However, since last year, the situation here has become even more serious. So, taking advantage of Lin Aoxue's visit to Fallen Immortal Ridge, she thought about it and decided to let Lin Aoxue handle this matter.

Letting Lin Aoxue handle this would both establish her authority and eliminate the corrupt elements within the sect, so why not?

"Well, Senior Sister Lin, I did this to save the sect money. I admit that I used my position to secretly earn a lot of spirit stones, but I can guarantee that I did not harm the sect's interests." Liang Cheng had no choice but to admit it.

Hearing this, Ye Liuyun, who was behind him, sighed heavily. She basically guessed where this guy got his profits from: squeezing them out of these hired rogue cultivators. This way, he wouldn't harm the interests of the Yunxia Sect.

The sect couldn't possibly be unaware of this, but initially, they might not have gone too far, so the sect turned a blind eye.

The fact that Lin Aoxue was given this task to handle was a favor Yun Yun had given her. Since it would have to be resolved sooner or later anyway, it was better to let her apprentice handle it.

No wonder they came to this mining area. When she heard the news, she immediately wondered what they were doing here. It turned out they came to deal with this kind of thing.

"Yes, you haven't affected the sect's interests, but you've tarnished the sect's reputation. We are the immortal path, not the evil path. How are you any different from those evil paths, who only care about personal gain and don't care about other cultivators?" Lin Aoxue questioned coldly.

"Me? But, Senior Sister, almost all sects do this. Go and look at the other mining areas. Maybe I went too far, but I'm not the only one doing this. Ask Deacon Yunrui, ask the other disciples. Which one of them didn't take bribes from the mining areas? Oh, and the disciples who guarded the mining areas in the past, they did similar things to varying degrees as well." Liang Cheng couldn't care less about anything else now, so he could only expose everyone involved.

Upon hearing this, none of the surrounding disciples dared to look at Lin Aoxue, and Yun Rui pretended not to have seen anything.

Lin Aoxue fell silent after hearing this.

What were they supposed to do? She turned her gaze to Ye Liuyun.

However, Ye Liuyun shook his head. Now that the matter had been exposed, it definitely needed to be resolved. The reason he sent Lin Aoxue to raid the southern mining area was to make an example of Liang Cheng. Once this was done, even if the leaders of the other mining areas didn't stop, they would restrain themselves considerably.