"Get over there!"

"Get in, now!"

"Go in or die!"

The rumors about Mine Pit No. 19 were clearly no secret to most of the Inspectors.

At the bottom of the mine pit, still some distance from the designated Area No. 19, the escorting Inspectors all came to a halt.

Swords were drawn. Gleaming blades, accompanied by harsh shouts, forced the men on Forced Labor toward Mine Area No. 19.

Chu Mu had already stopped, watching everything dispassionately, his expression unchanging.

"Sir, please, have mercy!"

"I have elders and children to support! My whole family of eight depends on me!"

An old laborer dropped to his knees with a THUD, grabbing Chu Mu’s pant leg and begging bitterly.

Chu Mu had a good memory and recognized the old laborer before him. He was the same old man who had often made small requests of him back when he was a Guardian at the mine.

At this time of year, under normal circumstances, this old man should have already completed his six months of Forced Labor...

The reason for this was not hard to guess.

The old man begged and pleaded, but Chu Mu just watched the pitiful figure with indifference, offering no words, not even a shred of comfort.

"Team Leader!"

"Brother Mu!"

A few Inspectors stepped forward but made no move, as if waiting for Chu Mu’s order.

Chu Mu waved his hand, clearly weary of the whole affair.

"Go!"

"Get up!"

Several Inspectors surged forward, shouting as they dragged the old man away and then threw him directly into Mine Area No. 19.

"Brother Mu!"

Xu Yuan hurried over and discreetly pointed behind Chu Mu.

Following Xu Yuan’s gesture, Chu Mu saw a figure in white robes, surrounded by a crowd of Inspectors. His pupils contracted, and he quickly looked away.

Chu Mu ordered in a low voice, "Stay with me. Don’t wander off."

Xu Yuan nodded firmly. "I know."

"After this blood sacrifice, we must speed things up. Before the end of next month..."

"I understand..."

"But... after this blood sacrifice, I’m afraid there won’t be enough Forced Labor to keep the mines running... If our superiors ask..."

"Do I have to handle conscripting laborers for you myself?"

"My Lord, forgive me! I will absolutely not fail to meet your expectations..."

As the man in white and his group drew closer, snippets of their conversation reached Chu Mu’s ears.

Chu Mu’s expression shifted slightly. He lowered his head, pulled Xu Yuan back about ten feet, and did his best to avoid any potential attention.

Only after the man in white and his group had passed and moved some distance away did Chu Mu’s tense heart finally relax.

’Blood sacrifice...’

Chu Mu mulled over another term that seemed to come from the Cultivation Immortal Realm, and he grew more confused.

’Aren’t they just mining? How did a blood sacrifice get involved?’

’A blood sacrifice... a sacrifice to whom?’

As he thought, the image of hundreds of ice statues containing desiccated corpses surfaced in his mind. Chu Mu’s heart trembled. He snapped his head up to look at the nearby mine entrance, where the Forced Laborers were now packed densely in and around the opening.

BOOM!

At that very moment, as if triggered by the arrival of the man in white, a roar that shot straight to the heavens erupted from the mine.

And then... the nightmare returned!

This time, Chu Mu saw it more clearly, more completely.

As the roar sounded, a pale blue energy surged out from the dark mine entrance, like a volcanic eruption.

In the blink of an eye, Mine Area No. 19 had become a world of ice and snow.

Countless ice statues, each containing a nearly identical desiccated corpse, once again appeared before Chu Mu’s eyes.

This time, it wasn’t a memory, but reality playing out once more!

’How many lives?’

Chu Mu didn’t have time to count, but there was no need. The sheer number of ice statues and the long, dragon-like procession of laborers who had been escorted down were proof enough of the immense death toll.

Chu Mu stared at the frozen wasteland before him, then at the man in white, whose expression remained utterly unmoved, and at Li Jinghong, who looked almost identical.

He was beginning to understand.

Although, this was an understanding he had already suspected, or even known, for some time.

’Those high and mighty Cultivators truly don’t care about the lives of mortals.’

’No, it isn’t just that they don’t care about mortal lives; they don’t care about mortals at all.’

’This isn’t an isolated incident. In all likelihood, it’s a common phenomenon.’

’It’s just like how a person wouldn’t care about an ant at their feet. If they step on it, they step on it, and that’s that.’

’This fact isn’t just reflected in the frozen wasteland that has appeared again and again before my eyes.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

’It seems to be reflected in every aspect of this era.’

’Ore Materials are state-owned. All mined Ore Materials are forbidden from entering the market. Their final destination is inevitably the high and mighty Cultivation Immortal Realm.’

’And even though smuggling is rampant, and Iron Ore flows into the market and the secular world through various channels...’

’...the very existence of such a policy proves that its makers simply don’t care about the secular world at all.’

’Whether mortals have iron tools to use, whether their lives require iron tools—they couldn’t care less.’

’The paper currency, so ahead of its time, seems to be the same.’

’The purpose of the paper money is likely to better consolidate the mortal world’s metals.’

’As for whether the currency will be over-issued, whether it will devalue, whether the people will be plunged into misery...’

’...Do people care if ants are plunged into misery?’

’All of this was perhaps decided on a whim by some high and mighty Cultivator.’

’Just like the man in white and Li Jinghong before me. The man in white made a decision on a whim, regardless of whether it was reasonable, regardless of the cost...’

’...And Li Jinghong... would he dare to refuse? Dare to not carry it out?’

’And as for all the consequences, the costs—the people’s suffering, a mass uprising...’

’Could any of that threaten a high and mighty Cultivator?’

’Could it harm the interests of a high and mighty Cultivator?’

’Chu Mu wracked his brains but couldn’t think of any way to threaten a Cultivator or harm their interests.’

’He wasn’t afraid of ordinary people, so why would a Cultivator be?’

’Even if mortals formed a powerful faction, so what?’

’Even if they swept through a region, or even the whole world, so what?’

’Take the rebellion just now. Even if it had succeeded, so what?’

’It might have swept through Nanshan Town and even Qinghe County, but at that point, it would have, at most, alerted the high and mighty Nanshan Li Family.’

’Someone like Li Jinghong, who was practically invincible among mortals, was utterly servile before the man in white.’

’Never mind higher levels of power—just sending out eight or ten people with Li Jinghong’s level of Cultivation would be more than enough to crush any number of ordinary people. Whether it’s ten, a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand, it would make little difference!’

’Not to mention an Immortal God-like figure such as the man in white. In the face of such a being, ordinary people truly are no different from ants.’

’Unless... unless an ordinary person could achieve a terrifying level of Cultivation that could suppress the entire Cultivation Immortal Realm, and then, still wholeheartedly look out for the common people...’

’Otherwise, this indifference will surely exist forever.’

’A Cultivation Immortal World where immense power is concentrated in individuals.’

’Beneath the Immortal Path, all are ants.’

’And he, Chu Mu, is one of those ants.’

’He holds no grand ambitions. He just wants to shed his status as an ant as quickly as possible.’

’Even if he steps onto the Immortal Path, he might only become a slightly larger ant, but at least his life and death would no longer be decided by the whim of another!’

...