At the centre of this space stood an altar. Gon walked towards the altar, its appearance coming into view. The altar towered a foot over Gon, its colour a deep, jet-black. It consisted of four sides and a round, bowl-like top.
The front of the altar had a symbol of a trigram. A yin-yang symbol swirled at its centre, black and white intertwining like two rivers that would never meet. Around the yin-yang symbol there were multiple slots. Seven of them contained a faint, purple holographic lock while one remained open, empty enough for him to put in a gem.
"This is… It isn't a dream, but it's not reality." Gon observed his surroundings, trying to understand what the hell was going on now.
Welcome to your Inner World.
This will be the foundation of your cultivation.
The altar you see before you is known as the Primordial Mining Heaven Devouring Altar. It has a multitude of functions that will be unlocked as you progress in your journey.
The slots on its front are known as Gem Slots and will allow you to store any unique gems you find. Currently, only one slot is available.
You will also be able to store anything you have mined within your Inner World.
"Interesting." Gon massaged his chin, listening carefully. "But why's the name sound even worse than the nickname I used when I used to play games as a kid? Keep it simple. Mining Altar."
…To track your current progress, call out 'Status'.
"Status." Gon called out. A blue screen appeared in front of Gon's face.
Status
Name: Gon (Kuang Gong)
Age: 21 years old (36 years old)
Title: Ghost Axe Gon
Blue Collar Physique: Copper Physique (5%)
Cultivation Level: Sealed
Mining Altar:
- Gem Slot 1: —
"So how do the Blue Collar Physique and Cultivation Levels work?" asked Gon. Though he was an expert in mining, Gon had no idea how the laws of this world worked and had zero experience regarding cultivation.
An audible sigh rang out within Gon's mind.
The Blue Collar Physique is tied to your mining capabilities and will grow the more you mine. Your cultivation level is linked to The Depths, which can be found behind the Mining Altar.
Gon listened and waited for the System to continue but nothing else came.
"Thanks for that," he rolled his eyes.
May you ascend from the Depths of the Earth to the Pinnacle of the Heavens!
Gon waved away that final prompt and made his way towards the back of the Mining Altar. He discovered the stairway that descended to The Depths below.
"Let's start with this."
Gon made his way down the steps. He embraced the darkness and continued his trek. The stone steps remained firm while blue ore veins appeared on either side, lighting the path with a dim light.
Then—the stairs ended.
Before Gon stretched a vast corridor, its ceiling lost in darkness. Rows of rusted iron lamps lined the walls, their flames burned low but steady, as if tended by unseen hands. At the end of the corridor there was a large opening. The opening was covered by a glistening crystal wall that shone with white and purple.
Gon reached the wall and placed his hand upon it. He closed his eyes and took a moment to gather his thoughts.
"What an amazing amalgamation of ore. I've never seen such a thing before."
"There's only one thing to do… mine!" Gon opened his eyes and raised his hands. A simple, iron pickaxe appeared within them. He tensed his muscles and swung down with controlled might, an action he had done thousands… no, millions of times throughout his life.
The pickaxe struck the wall of ore and a large chunk shattered and fell out. It emitted a faint light before rapidly disappearing into white motes of light. Gon could feel a strange energy emerge within his body.
System achievement!
Unlocked The Depths and mined the first layer.
Unlocked: Ore Refining Layer (Surface)
"So this is Qi." Gon could feel the energy that now slowly began to flow within his body, strengthening his every move. It seemed the Qi he had absorbed from the Spiritual Jade had to be properly absorbed by mining The Depths in his inner World.
"But… Ore Refining Layer? Is this different from the Qi Condensation Realm?"
You have embarked on the unique path of a cultivating miner. As such, the realms will function differently.
"Huh, okay. Whatever, let's continue to mine!" Gon resumed his mining with heightened swagger.
Bits of ore continued to fall and Gon could feel the vessel of qi within his body to increase.
An unknown of time had passed, yet Gon continued to mine, without a care in the world. As ore fell, he grew stronger and mined deeper.
Sweat dripped from Gon's face as the rebound from his pickaxe sent pain pulsing down his arms. He had already dug a few metres into the ore but was now faced with a predicament, the ore no longer could be mined.
"Strange," he mumbled under his breath. Gon raised the pickaxe and swung it down again, however it bounced off like before.
"Is there something I'm missing to go further?" Gon wondered. "Show me my cultivation level."
Cultivation Level: Ore Refining Layer (Surface)
"Hm, my level is the same. Yet, I can feel the amount of qi I'm able to store has increased. So expanding these layers is like increasing the volume in my body as well?" Gon dropped the pickaxe and it dispersed back into the world. "That's weird. It's like I'm a tiny cell in my own body, digging out new vessels for these qi or some shit."
"Let's check if there's been any changes outside."
Gon travelled back from where he came and stood in front of the Mining Altar. His eyes scanned the altar, but the surfaces remained the same. The slots still had the purple locks and the rest of the surfaces were blank.
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Gon raised his head above and noticed a small whitish-purple cloud. The empty white sky had now slightly changed. It was hard to make out, but Gon knew it didn't exist before.
"Interesting, so the ore I mined down below formed this cloud. Is it me basically forming the foundation of the world by properly absorbing the qi within my body?"
"Show me my Blue Collar Physique Level."
A small interface popped out.
Blue Collar Physique: Copper Physique (5%)
"Unchanged… is it because this is not my real body so the mining had no effect?" While the system had given him answers, Gon was more or less left to his own devices. Only through trial and error, would he unearth the secrets that lay within his body.
"There no longer seems to be a reason for me to stay here any longer." Gon contemplated for a bit before deciding to leave.
"Don't think it wants to answer any more questions." He closed his eyes and imagined himself back in his body.
Within the mine, the clacking of the minecrafts, rumbling of rocks and grunts of the miners echoed throughout the walls. Gon who had just entered his Inner World had awoken. His eyes snapped open and he checked his surroundings.
"I'll quickly clean up here and head back." He raised his pickaxe and continued to mine with maddening speed.
Strange… I feel as if I've gotten slightly stronger and faster.
Is this the power of qi?
A smile emerged on his lips. Though the main reason for Kuang Gong's expulsion from the Ethereal Life Sect had been because he offended the sect leader's granddaughter, another reason was he never was able to access qi.
Qi was the basis of all cultivation. It was a mystical form of energy that existed in this world and allowed normal humans to step upon the path of immortality. With it, they were able to cast powerful spells that could shatter mountains and part oceans, and now, Gon had finally accessed it.
Gon collected a few pieces of spirit jade within his hands and focused on extracting the qi within. The pieces of spirit jade emitted a faint blue light that began to decrease as the stored qi exited the rocks and entered Gon's body. The qi flowed from his hands directly into his navel and into the first cloud. He continued to absorb qi until the cloud could no longer contain anymore.
"So this is my current limit."
Utilising his new physique and qi, Gon cleared out this path and collected the coal he had mined within his Inner World.
System achievement!
Blue Collar Physique has been upgraded.
Copper Physique (5%) has increased to Copper Physique (10%).
The mining he had done so far contributed to his Blue Collar Physique and he experienced a small increase in strength and toughness. Gon clenched his hands and could feel the improvements within his skin.
"The good news just keeps on coming. I'm going to assume it means I'm as tough as copper." Gon chuckled to himself.
"Let's head back and see how the rest of the boys are faring."
Gon made his way back towards his group. It only took half the amount of time as it took originally, a testament to Gon's improved condition. However, he was met with two voices that drowned out the sounds of his group.
"There was a request for help that originated from here?" A young lad wearing the cultivator robes of the Ethereal Life Sect stood before the group of miners, a longsword by his waist. His back was slightly hunched and he couldn't help but stifle a yawn.
"Senior Brother Xuan, let's get this over and done with. I just want to go back and sleep." A second voice emerged from behind the taller disciple. It belonged to another cultivator who also had dead eyes, reminiscent of Li Han.
Old Qiang stepped forward, clasped his jade hands and bowed slightly. "There is no need for cultivators such as yourself to worry, the issue has already been resolved. I apologise for wasting your time."
"Is that so," replied Senior Brother Xuan. "But the collapse was the cause of beasts, no? Li Han told us he heard the roars of them. Their corpses are still the properties of the sect. Where are they?"
Old Qiang had a warm smile. "We ate it. Everyone was hungry after dealing with all the beasts."
The young disciple next to Senior Brother Xuan had light come to his eyes, as if he'd just found an interesting incident to deal with. "Senior brother, isn't this against the rules?! Even if they beat those beasts, their corpses are valuable assets to us. If it was from the mines, then they must've run into a group of hibernating Kolomodor Salamanders. If we can-"
Senior Brother Xuan slapped the back of his head, causing him to almost fall to the ground. "Shut up."
Xuan nodded his head to Old Qiang. "Half of you look like a mess, so you clearly needed the food. In fact, we expected to find all of you dead. Even I have some shame to not whine about a small matter like this. Last thing I need is the sect to make me waste time on these stupid errands by dealing with you all."
"I'm glad you understand." Old Qiang replied, still standing firmly without backing down.
"Then, we'll be off." Xuan bowed to Old Qiang before turning around and walking off. The younger disciple followed closely behind, grumbling.
Like Li Han, the pair were also outer disciples and had just returned from a month-long mission, before being forced to hurry towards the mines without a moment's rest.
"Damn, both of them sure are characters." Gon called out as he arrived beside the group just as the pair had left. "By the way, we need to request for proper timber and a few other things, like paper. How do we make that request to the sect?"
"Just a small matter. Also, we can make a request, but it'll at least take a month."
"You're joking." Gon's mouth was slightly ajar from that answer. To think the sect would be this slow in such a small matter.
Gon clapped his hands, garnering the attention of the group. "Most of the rubble has been dealt with. Since the sect is so useless, we'll need to gather some timber on our own to make supports for the mines."
"So, who wants to go into the forest with me?"
And I can check that as well while I'm at it.