One thousand people lived in a huge castle. Each of them was given a small room of less than 10 square feet. They felt like animals in captivity.
A prefecture warrior gave each person a small black pickaxe and told them how to dig for Spring Gold and the tricks to find it.
"You will be given 10 pieces of Spring Gold per month. You can get one hundred Divine Sources for every extra piece. Of course … you can save it and hand it in next month.
But when your service time is up, all the Spring Gold must be handed in. Anyone found hiding Spring Gold will be killed without mercy. Do not snatch other people's Spring Gold. Once caught, you will be killed without mercy! "
The prefecture warrior left after the instructions. The warriors gathered in the hall of the castle, chattering away. Some had already left the castle to gather information.
Lu Li did not take action right away. He waited quietly. Several people went out to gather information. Soon, they would have news. Sharpening the axe would not delay the work. They must figure out the situation first.
"Guys, guys!"
An hour later, a dark-skinned old man came in. As soon as he came in, he said solemnly, "The Mountain of Vicissitudes is indeed a trap. Many people have been serving here for hundreds of years. Spring Gold is not easy to dig out. If you are lucky, you can finish a month's work in a few days. If you are unlucky … you can't find one piece for months."
Lu Li and the others felt their hearts weighed down. If they could not find one piece for months, wouldn't they be serving here indefinitely?
The Vicissitudes House had a good plan. They wanted the newly ascended immortals to do hard labor for them for free.
"Also … be careful!"
The old man warned, "It is true that we cannot use force in the Valley of Vicissitudes. But the mines are deep. Some of them are tens of millions of feet underground. The higher-ups will not know if you fight in the mines, and the prefecture warriors will not interfere.
There are often people working together to snatch the Spring Gold. I suggest … we work together and form teams to dig together.
If someone tries to snatch the Spring Gold, we can protect ourselves or else we will be killed easily. "
Many people immediately echoed the little old man's words.
They were not familiar with each other. Nevertheless, they had ascended together and entered the Mountain of Vicissitudes together. There was some camaraderie.
If they could work together, they would not be bullied and they could protect themselves.
"Alright, let's form a group of fifty. If others bully us, we'll help each other out if we encounter them. Everyone working together is strength, and no one can bully us."
The group of people chattered non-stop, and the discussion was in full swing. Many people began to take the initiative to organize.
An immortal of the Beasts walked toward Lu Li, asking him to join his team. Lu Li thought about it and chose to decline.
"Not joining the party?
Hmph, we won't care if you're hunted down later. "
The immortal of the beasts threw Lu Li a mocking glance. Many others looked over with sarcasm. They did not like Lu Li at all.
Lu Li was young. He had been sitting with his legs crossed on the way to the Vicissitude House and never talked to anyone.
Many people had already noticed him. At this moment, Lu Li actually chose not to team up with them. In everyone's eyes, Lu Li was an arrogant person, so they naturally didn't have a good impression of him.
Lu Li didn't say a word and just stood there silently. He didn't team up with the others because it was inconvenient.
Another point was — would it really be safe to form a team?
Can teammates be trusted?
Not necessarily. They came from different universes and did not know each other well. Who could tell if someone would stab you in the back?
In this strange world, for the time being, Lu Li didn't want to trust anyone. He wanted to rely on himself.
It was not that he had no trump cards. The Deaf Taoist and the immortal's body were his trump cards. When faced with average immortals, Lu Li could still fight them.
Soon, people in the castle were divided into many groups. They walked out in a hubbub, ready to explore the mines.
Immortals were full of energy. They didn't need to rest or adapt.
Soon, more than half of the people in the spacious hall had left. Lu Li noticed that there were others like him who didn't team up. They just watched as the teams left.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle ~"
When Lu Li was about to go out, a purple-haired young man with a gloomy temperament came over. He cupped his fists and said in a low voice, "I am Su Zixi, from the Grand Martial Universe. I don't trust those people. You … are strong. I want to team up with you."
"Eh?"
Lu Li raised his eyebrows, surprised. He was an immortal who had just ascended. How could this Su Zixi say he was strong?
Lu Li blinked and asked, "I have just ascended and the Fundamental Principle I learned is average. Why do you say I am strong?"
"I don't know!"
Su Zixi shook his head. Then, he looked at Lu Li with great interest and said, "It is just a hunch. I feel that you are the most powerful among all of us. Following you is the right choice. My hunch has always been accurate."
"Ha, ha!"
Lu Li burst into laughter. He himself was not so confident, but this Su Zixi seemed to have faith in him.
Lu Li shook his head and refused, "I am sorry. I don't team up. I work alone."
"Okay …" Su Zixi said with pity, "Can you tell me your name?
I hope we can be friends in the future. "
"Li Lu!"
Lu Li said his name in reverse, using two homophones. With that said, he walked out of the castle on his own. He picked a random mine and went in.
The mine was large, with a width of two miles. The walls were made of some kind of black stone. People were coming in and out in a hurry.
Lu Li walked along the mine. The mine extended downwards. Dozens of miles later, he saw several forks.
Lu Li picked one and moved on. He used psychic power to check the surroundings, looking for Spring Gold.
Of course, he knew that there was no Spring Gold here. If there were, it would have been dug out.
Along the way, Lu Li saw many potholes on the walls. Clearly, someone had dug them out.
Lu Li's psychic power was strong. Even though the space in the Divinity was stable, he could still sense within a radius of tens of thousands of miles.
However, the black stone in the mine could affect psychic power. Lu Li could only go as far as thousands of feet. Beyond that, he could not see.
Along the way, he saw forks. The mine was getting smaller. It must have been dug out.
Lu Li wondered how long the Mountain of Vicissitudes had existed and how many people had excavated it. There were mines and traces of excavation everywhere.
After an hour, Lu Li felt he had covered at least tens of thousands of miles. Still, he didn't find any Spring Gold. Along the way, Lu Li did run into many people. He saw some teams, but they were in groups of several. They glanced at Lu Li and then left in a hurry without paying attention to him.
"It is like an ant's nest down here."
Lu Li was getting dizzy from all the twists and turns. He just didn't care anymore and kept going down.
There must be no more Spring Gold in the mines up there. How could there be more when so many people were searching?
"Eh?
Someone is here. Spring Gold! "
Another hour later, Lu Li found a man in a small mine. He used psychic power to check and it just so happened that this man had dug out a piece of Spring Gold.
"Piss off!"