Volume 1, Chapter 316 – Adding Fuel to the Fire

Smack!

“Move it!”

Not far away, a foreman was waving the long whip in his hand, driving along several newly arrived mine slaves. Around the necks of these mine slaves was a circle of silver bands.

These were restraints used to seal their true qi. Clearly, all of these people had cultivation.

Most of the foremen here were actually natives of Yaoyun Star. The moment they saw how powerful the Zheng family was, they directly threw in with them and became their lackeys. There were quite a few such people.

“You forget your roots and betray your ancestors, yet you’re willing to be the Zheng family’s dogs!”

Among the group being driven along, a young man could not hold back. He turned around and spat out the curse, his face full of contempt.

Unsurprisingly, what followed was a brutal beating. The foreman’s expression was icy, and every lash of the whip left behind a deep bloody mark.

If not for the few people beside him shielding him, that young man would almost have been beaten to death on the spot.

The disturbance soon died down. The miners around them all wore numb expressions and turned back to digging.

Shi Lan shook her head inwardly. There was naturally nothing wrong with hot blood running high, but this reckless outburst, indulging in a moment’s verbal satisfaction without regard for the consequences, was still too impulsive. It even dragged his companions down with him.

Looking at the numb expressions on the faces around her, Shi Lan could not help letting out a quiet sigh. The Zheng family’s methods had gone to extremes. Their way of doing things was simple and brutal, but it damaged the harmony of heaven.

When the day’s mining finally ended, Shi Lan followed the flow of miners back to a chaotic residential area.

Calling it a residence was generous. It was nothing more than crude stone chambers dug into the mine pit. To avoid drawing attention, Shi Lan did not set herself apart or keep away from the crowd. The stone chamber she lived in housed six or seven people, most of them ordinary women.

Those with exceptional beauty would not be left here to mine, whether they themselves were willing to or not.

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The labor of the day had already left these women utterly exhausted. After eating supper, they soon all sank into deep sleep.

Once everyone had gone to rest, Shi Lan rose and stepped out of the stone chamber, heading deeper into the mine pit.

“Tianbai?”

When she reached the deepest part of the mine tunnel, Shi Lan called softly. To avoid being noticed, she had not used her divine sense for a long time.

A black shadow sprang out from a corner and crouched in front of Shi Lan. To avoid attracting notice, Tianbai had also disguised himself somewhat. On top of that, after rolling around in the mine tunnels for so many days, he had already turned pitch-black from head to toe, and it was impossible to make out his original appearance.

Tianbai had become Tianhei. At first glance, Shi Lan had almost failed to recognize him.

For the past two days, no divine sense had swept over this place. The Zheng family’s high-level combat power had presumably already left this star and gone elsewhere to wage war.

Now that the worst of it had passed, Shi Lan was also preparing to leave within the next two days. After all, there was still a considerable distance between here and the star that belonged to her.

After confirming that Tianbai was safe and sound, Shi Lan turned back, already calculating the best timing for her departure.

Although this mine pit had gone a long time without any divine sense sweeping through it, there was no guarantee that the outer reaches of the star were no longer under blockade.

As she thought, Shi Lan became somewhat absentminded. When she rounded a bend in one of the mine tunnels, she almost walked right into someone.

She had strayed a little and entered another mining zone. The residences around her were all men’s quarters.

Not far away, those few men who had arrived today were glaring at her. Some of them even had killing intent in their eyes. The young man who had been beaten earlier was sprawled nearby, his gaze also fixed tightly on her.

“What did you just hear?” the man Shi Lan had nearly collided with asked in a deep voice after looking her over briefly.

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Shi Lan wore a baffled expression, but inwardly she reacted at once. Apparently these people had been discussing something just now, and she had stumbled upon them.

With that thought, Shi Lan shook her head.

“What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

The man barked the question, clearly having no intention of letting her off so easily.

Shi Lan glanced at the young man lying nearby, then took out a jade bottle from her sleeve and tossed it over.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the jade bottle. By the time they looked back, Shi Lan had already vanished without a trace.

In an instant, all of their expressions changed.

“It’s healing spirit liquid!” one of them cried softly after opening the jade bottle and identifying what was inside.

…

Shi Lan strolled through the mine tunnel, slowly making her way back toward her own stone chamber. She had no interest at all in whatever those people had been discussing. The only reason she had given them the spirit liquid was because of that young man.

Though hot-blooded and somewhat impulsive, that did not prevent Shi Lan from feeling favorably toward such a person. She admired that kind of backbone.

It was not easy to hold to one’s principles and remain steadfast without bending, even if it sometimes seemed a little foolish.

…

For some unknown reason, over the next few days, a great many more mine slaves under restraints suddenly appeared in the tunnels.

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This mining zone was not especially valuable. It simply did not need this many people, especially not mine slaves who had cultivation.

Although their true qi was sealed, their physiques were still far stronger than those of ordinary people. They should have been used to mine higher-grade veins instead.

Shi Lan found the change somewhat puzzling, but did not intend to inquire too deeply. She was already preparing to leave.

She could not save these mine slaves as she was now. Even if she did save them, there would be no way to deal with the aftermath, and she would even provoke the Zheng family because of it. Leaving things as they were might be better.

But before Shi Lan could make a move, someone else acted first.

Among those mine slaves, there was clearly a master of restraints hiding in plain sight. He undid the Spirit-Locking Bands around the necks of many of the mine slaves and set off a riot.

A great many foremen were killed on the spot, and quite a few of the Zheng family’s people also died in the struggle.

It was not just this one mining zone. Nearly two-thirds of the mining regions erupted in rebellion.

The zone where Shi Lan was had more mine slaves with cultivation than the others, so it was the first to stabilize the situation, and morale rose sharply for a time.

Those people she had encountered that night somehow managed to find Shi Lan, and that young man thanked her in person.

After some contact, Shi Lan finally learned who these people were.

Of the three great sects on Yaoyun Star, one was called Xuansheng Palace. That young man was the Young Palace Master of Xuansheng Palace, and his name was Li Canglan.

Among the three great sects, only Xuansheng Palace had resisted with the greatest ferocity, and in the end it had been bathed in blood.

“What you’re doing is only fanning the flames. It will bring even more terrible retaliation and throw away lives for nothing.”

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Shi Lan let out a sigh and spoke helplessly.

“Then let us all perish together!”

Perhaps because they had achieved some success, Li Canglan sounded even more arrogant than before. After tossing out those words, he turned and left.

Perish together?

This was a mantis trying to shake a great tree, an egg striking a stone!

Shi Lan almost ground her teeth apart. These people still had not grasped the absolute disparity in strength.

…

The Zheng family’s reaction was even faster than Shi Lan had expected. They dispatched powerful experts to suppress the unrest almost immediately.

The enormous gap in strength made the entire riot seem like a joke.

To the mining zone where Shi Lan was, they sent a Nascent Soul Realm expert named Zheng Tianlun. He was extremely bloodthirsty, and with a flick of his hand he killed more than a hundred people.

The people of Xuansheng Palace did indeed have some courage. Even if what they were doing was like adding fuel to the fire, they still organized a counterattack.

But the difference in strength had already determined the outcome. More than half of them were slaughtered.

Shi Lan stood amid the crowd and let out a sigh. She had dodged and hidden again and again, but in the end, a battle was still unavoidable.