Chapter 98: The Crimson Earth

  "From today on, I will be your supervisor. All actions and activities will be my responsibility. My name is Hoffman, and I hope we can work together pleasantly. But let's get the ugly words out of the way first - there are a few rules that must be followed. It is not allowed to randomly absorb the energy of heaven and earth here, it is not allowed to secretly hoard crystal stones, it is not allowed to cause trouble or stir up trouble, and even more so, it is not allowed to defy the supervisor. Whoever dares to violate any one of these points, I will recommend you to a very fun place, where you can experience what it means to be worse off than dead."

  Not even halfway through their rest period, a two-meter-five-tall, robust blond man with a physique like a rock appeared in front of Tang Yan's house, bellowing like thunder, his eyes gleaming like a tiger's, his face twisted into a fierce and sinister scowl, clutching a pitch-black iron whip as thick as an arm, looking like a small mountain that had fallen before the door, gazing down at the five people inside.

  "Good grief! How did you grow like this?" Tang Yan was shocked by this enormous creature.

  "Big brother, let's agree on this, don't cause trouble, whatever you do, don't cause trouble. I haven't even kissed a woman yet, and I don't want to die young here!" Du Yang quietly reminded Tang Yan.

  "Am I that kind of person?"

  "Isn't it you?"

  “……”

  "What are you muttering? Get out of here quickly!" Hoffman glared with his eyes wide open, his voice thundering.

  None of them took the lead, and they all quietly left the room.

  "Follow me!" Hoffman strode forward, the ground rumbling beneath his feet, his massive body easily overtaking Tang Yan by five paces!

  As they left the slave quarters, other slaves were also driven out one after another, led by their respective overseers in different directions. They would be assigned to different places, doing different chores, but the disasters they suffered were probably not much different.

  In the depressing atmosphere, a strong sense of despair was pervasive, even affecting someone as optimistic as Tang Yan. Thinking about his frail body, how would he spend his future days?

  All the way forward, it's like trekking on a rugged mountain road, with no trees around, only laborers, scattered rocks, and iron-backed dogs roaming everywhere! The further you walk, the more of these snarling iron-backed dogs there are!

  What are these iron-backed dogs the size of calves doing?

  They walked a thousand meters away, and they witnessed five iron-backed dogs tearing apart a mining slave. The shrill cries of agony, the cracking sound of broken bones, made the nearby coolies' scalps numb, and they trembled with fear.

  The overseers, however, were leisurely admiring and instructing their mining slaves with examples.

  After crossing three low hills, they walked five or six kilometers and Hoffman brought Tang Yan to the top of a very high hill. The space in front of them was vast and open, with a scorching heat wave rushing towards them, boiling flames everywhere, illuminating this world.

  Before me lies a vast, hundreds-of-kilometers-long pit, inside which are densely packed laboring workers, all sorts of terrifying demonic beasts, and the sounds of clanging, wailing and roaring, this is truly the essence of the Refining Fire Mine!

  A thorough and utter human purgatory!

  In the central region of the mine, there is a towering kiln that pierces the clouds, like an enormous heavenly cauldron, or a majestic mountain that rises straight into the sky, guarding this land. This kiln has been tempered for thousands of years and has been burned to a fiery red, emitting a terrifying high temperature. Tens of thousands of steel passageways stretch from the ground to the top of the kiln, where countless laboring miners are at work.

  Inside the tower furnace, it was filled with boiling 'mineral water', rolling and churning inside. A stream of scorching hot 'mineral water' splashed out from the tower furnace, like a rain curtain pouring down to the ground. The 'mineral water' contained terrifying high temperatures, comparable to molten lava. Anyone who came into contact with it would be severely burned, if not killed instantly. Some were even submerged in the mineral water and evaporated without making a sound.

  The closer you get to the tower furnace, the more dangerous it is, because the mine water there falls like a rain curtain, and there is always a risk of life at any time.

  A cruel scene can be felt even from a distance.

  "The leaders have given special instructions, you are all Wu Zong, with strong endurance, so... you will be working near the tripod furnace. Although it's dangerous, the work time is short, and the treatment is still good." Hofman smiled sinisterly, his eyes scanning over the pale faces of the five people, and suddenly roared: "Go!!"

  Tang Yan took a deep breath, clenched his fists and stepped forward. Retreating was no longer an option. To think of escaping from here was like a fool's dream. Not to mention whether he could escape to the surface 20,000 meters above, even within the mine itself, there were countless iron-backed dogs, ghost-faced spiders, and five-colored mangroves densely distributed everywhere. These demonic beasts mostly inhabited levels two and three, and had become extremely brutal and bloodthirsty after years of devouring living humans.

  Once anyone wants to run away, they will discover it before the supervisor and take action.

  Hoffman led them to a place less than a hundred meters away from the Thousand Stacks Furnace, where scorching heat scorched their skin and rolling hot waves came crashing down, dense mineral water falling from the sky and splashing everywhere on the ground.

  Bang!! A nearly hundred-pound mine water fell beside them, with a fierce splash. The sturdy man among the five was hit first, his whole body turned into a sieve, and he let out an extremely mournful cry. Tang Yan and the others were not spared either, the mine water splashed on their bodies, like sharp arrows piercing through, causing unbearable pain.

  "Ah!!!!" The pain made him grit his teeth and pale in the face, desperately catalyzing his spiritual power to heal his wounds.

  "Be careful, don't get burned." Hoffman chuckled and kicked the screaming man several meters away, rolling to the side of two ghost-faced spiders. The two strange beasts let out eerie screams, appearing extremely excited.

  "Get out of here, you bastards!" The man's face darkened and he stood up, gritting his teeth.

  "Fifty meters wide, fifty meters long, half a meter deep. This is your first round of work, after finishing, you can drink water, eat food, and have three minutes of rest time. Now, start!" Hofman stood aside with an iron whip, three iron-backed dogs came over, rubbing against him affectionately, while baring their teeth and warning Tang Yan and the others.

  Tang Yan and his companions dared to be angry but did not dare speak out, silently supporting the protective spiritual power, resisting the splashing mine water as much as possible.

  Next to him was a pile of cluttered tools, Tang Yan picked up the iron pickaxe and swung it with all his might towards the ground, but... Clang! The sound of metal hitting stone echoed through the air, the hard ground didn't budge an inch, while he himself was knocked backwards, landing on his back, his hands scraped and bruised.

  "Are you okay?" Du Yang hurried over to help him up, but was met with a iron whip from Hofmann.

  Bang!!

  Du Yang's shoulder was a mess of blood and flesh, the pain almost made him kneel on the ground.

  "What's wrong with you, little rabbit? Get back to work!!" Hoffman bellowed.

  "You son of a bitch..." Du Yang suddenly became furious.

  "Don't be impulsive, I can do it." Tang Yan reminded Du Yang, suppressing the flames of anger in his heart, and quietly operating his spiritual power with the iron awl. Clang, sparks flew everywhere, and finally a crack appeared on the ground, but Tang Yan's hands were once again covered in blood from the backlash.

  "Just consider it as a tempering, tempering the body!" Xu Yan stood not far away, picked out a large iron pillar from the messy tools, and randomly swung it in his hand a few times. With a loud crash, he struck the ground fiercely, causing the ground to shake violently, sending shattered stones flying everywhere. The hard ground, as tough as steel, was suddenly blasted into a crater the size of a human head.

  What the...!! Whether it was Tang Yan or Du Yang, or the other two, they all showed a few points of astonishment. What kind of strange power is this?

  Even Langhoff was stunned for a moment, what a terrible and strange power!

  Xu Yan was also stunned for a moment, he was very dissatisfied with the effect in front of him.

  "Get to work, all of you! Work! Get to work quickly!!" Hoffman swung the iron whip with force, the whip cracking loudly in mid-air, making those who heard it feel a chill run down their spines.

  "Learning to endure is like tempering martial skills." Tang Yan took a deep breath, circulating his spiritual energy according to the method of the Blazing Flame Technique. In an instant, he struck out with two crescent-shaped slashes, doubling his strength, and finally blasted open the ground, but only a small area about the size of a palm was exposed, merely scraping off the surface layer.

  Come again!!

  Clang Clang Clang!!

  Tang Yan adjusted his mindset, treating digging as a slash, and continuously increasing his speed. He was originally able to unleash the Flame Triple Strike, and with this kind of tempering, he should be able to solidify it and make a breakthrough towards the Quadruple Strike.

  But Tang Yan's body was too weak, so he wildly waved his brush for a while and fell to the ground in exhaustion.

  "Get to work! Get to work, you old scoundrel!! Don't even think about slacking off!!" Hoffman yelled loudly, a series of iron whips lashing down, tearing skin and flesh, blood splattering everywhere.

  Tang Yan's whole body trembled, his face turned pale, but he still gritted his teeth and stubbornly endured.

  No choice, the body is too old.

  Fortunately, the Undying Heaven's Art can quickly repair injuries, so as to avoid losing the ability to work after being poisoned and beaten.

  Du Yang's situation was the most difficult, and the spiritual power in his body could only barely maintain the protective spiritual power to avoid being scalded by the mine water. As for mining, he could only rely on physical strength, but all he got were sparks flying everywhere, yet he couldn't even break through the ground.

  This weak display also enraged Hoffmann, who repeatedly lashed him with an iron whip, beating him until his skin split open.

  Xu Yan and the other two men were all top-notch martial artists, their strength basically at its peak. The progress of mining was not bad either. In comparison, Tang Yan and Du Yang were clearly two problematic figures, one who would occasionally lie on the ground panting heavily, and the other who couldn't even break through the surface after half a day. Hoffman was furious, focusing his attention on them, repeatedly lashing out with his whip.

  Xu Yan looked at them pitifully and had a mind to come over and help, but what he got in return was Hoffman's angry scolding and iron whip.

  He's basically at odds with this old and young pair, directly treating them as problematic characters, quietly calculating how to get rid of them and replace them with new, strong mining slaves.

  Tang Yan and Du Yang silently endured, repeatedly reminding themselves to be strong, repeatedly using their eyes to encourage each other.

  Both of them had unyielding willpower, enduring hardships while tempering themselves and encouraging each other.

  On the crimson earth, busy mining slaves are scattered everywhere. Anyone who can work here was once a warrior above the third stage of martial arts, and some were even at the level of martial arts masters. If they were in the outside world, their strength would be astonishing and they would be revered with glory. But trapped in this endless mine, they could only become mining slaves. The dense spiritual energy within their bodies was either condensed to form a protective shield to protect themselves or used to blast through the hard-as-steel ground.

  This is also an unavoidable thing. As the major mines in Taiwu Mining District continue to dig deeper, the hardness of the rocks has exceeded imagination. At 5,000 meters, it's already difficult to use ordinary slaves to break through, and at 10,000 meters, some areas can't be blasted open even with ordinary Wu Ling. From 10,000 meters down, such hard places are becoming more and more common, making excavation increasingly difficult. So far, one-fifth of the area requires a third-stage Wu Ling or even a Wu Zong to break through.

  Fortunately, the deeper they dug, the higher the purity of the ore became. High-quality crystal layers were endless, and the benefits far exceeded the investment, encouraging them to continue digging.