Infinite Save: I Cultivate Immortality Through Reincarnation - Chapter 218: Escape Plan
The world is full of uncertainties.
Chen Yan couldn’t help but sigh with this sentiment in his heart.
If things had gone according to his original plan, by this time, he should have easily broken through to the Qi Circulation Realm, restored his cultivation to the Peak Qi Sea Realm, successfully escaped from the Biqiu Sect, and been free to roam the vast world as he pleased.
However, over all these years, Chen Yan had made many plans.
Yet it seemed like not a single one of them ever truly went his way.
“Clang! Clang!”
The sound of metal picks striking ore came from nearby, occasionally sending out a few sparks.
Just as Chen Yan had cultivated to the late stage of the Body Forging Realm, with the distance to the Qi Circulation Realm shrinking, an unexpected incident occurred.
The Spirit Snake Cliff’s collusion with the Biqiu Sect to secretly mine the spirit ore vein was exposed, and they were called to account by the Star Heaven Sect.
As one of the Five Great Sects and one of the architects of the current order on the Chenping Continent, the Star Heaven Sect naturally wouldn’t adopt an overly brutal approach to handling the matter. If they could avoid using force, they would try their best to do so.
But being moderate did not mean being weak.
Punishment for the crime of secretly mining the spirit ore vein was something neither the Spirit Snake Cliff nor the Biqiu Sect could escape.
That Supervisor from the Star Heaven Sect’s External Affairs Hall gave the Spirit Snake Cliff and the Biqiu Sect the same choice.
Either return double the gains from the secretly mined spirit ore;
or have the entire sect serve as forced laborers for the Star Heaven Sect for a full fifty years.
These fifty years of forced labor represented more than just labor.
It meant the complete ruin of the sect’s reputation.
Once the fifty years of labor ended, the sect would certainly cease to exist.
The final result was that the Spirit Snake Cliff painfully paid a fine of three hundred thirty-three thousand, six hundred and twenty-seven high-grade spirit stones to the Star Heaven Sect.
As for the Biqiu Sect, even if they beat Gongsun Kang to death, he simply couldn’t cough up that many spirit stones.
There was no other way.
Chen Yan could only, along with the Biqiu Sect disciples, become forced laborers for the Star Heaven Sect, working as miners for them.
Regarding this, Chen Yan had nothing to say. All his thoughts and words ultimately condensed into a single sentence—
Ah, Karmic Backlash.
The bronze bell in the mine rang out, signaling the rest period for the laborers.
The laborers put down their tools one after another and walked wearily back to the mine’s platform. The young disciples who had once been filled with anticipation and longing for their path of seeking immortality and enlightenment now had all light completely extinguished from their eyes.
At this time, Chen Yan also found a corner in the mine, sat down, and began to meditate.
He had been mining in the Star Heaven Sect’s mine for a full year now. Most of his time was spent on labor, with only a tiny fraction of rest time squeezed out for cultivation.
“Damn it, I should have just stayed in Yunyang City as the Duan family’s second young master!”
Duan Ruijie walked towards Chen Yan’s direction, turned his head to spit, then sat down beside Chen Yan:
“It’s been a year, and I still can’t figure out how the Sect Leader dared to touch the Star Heaven Sect’s mine. What do you think, Yan Chen?”
He complained like this, then turned to look at Chen Yan and ask.
In Duan Ruijie’s eyes, Yan Chen was a fellow townsman from Yunyang City, so over the past year in the mine, he had grown relatively close to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan didn’t speak, merely lightly closed his eyes, nurturing his qi, concentrating his spirit, and drawing qi into his body.
Seeing this, Duan Ruijie stopped talking, just leaned back slightly against the mountain rock behind him and began to take a short nap.
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth seeped into Chen Yan’s bones and sinews, guided by his will, and was refined into true qi. A wisp of fine true qi wandered through Chen Yan’s meridians, rushing recklessly.
Finally, it successfully completed a full circulation cycle through all the meridians in Chen Yan’s body.
A feeling of sudden clarity and refreshment surged into Chen Yan’s consciousness, immediately followed by a second wisp of true qi appearing in his meridians.
Qi Circulation Realm!
Chen Yan knew what this meant.
He didn’t pause, but instead used these two wisps of true qi to surge towards the center of his Qi Sea.
That was his Martial Spring.
The two wisps of true qi drilled into the Martial Spring, and immediately, a vast, oceanic amount of true qi surged out, instantly filling Chen Yan’s meridians. Furthermore, the seal above his Qi Sea was completely broken through, with a few faint strands of Clear Rainbow energy flickering in and out.
In an instant, he had returned to the peak of the Qi Sea Realm.
Yet, under the effect of the Hidden Immortal Art, even Duan Ruijie beside him completely failed to notice his abnormality.
Chen Yan opened his eyes. There was no joy in his heart, only a slight sense of relief.
Because restoring his cultivation had always been part of his plan. Moreover, now that he had restored his cultivation to the Peak Qi Sea Realm, a new problem awaited Chen Yan.
That was escaping from the Star Heaven Sect’s mine.
The person in charge of this mine was a Star Heaven Sect cultivator at the peak of the Martial Spring Realm. Besides this peak Martial Spring Realm Star Heaven Sect disciple, there were also over a dozen Star Heaven Sect outer court Qi Circulation Realm cultivators jointly managing the more than three hundred Biqiu Sect laborers in the mine.
Without exception, all the Biqiu Sect laborers assigned to this mine were at the Body Forging Realm.
Therefore, these dozen-plus Star Heaven Sect cultivators managing this mine could be said to handle it with ease.
If Chen Yan wanted to, he could leave this mine at any time now. No one could stop him.
But what awaited him would inevitably be pursuit by the Star Heaven Sect.
He needed a foolproof strategy. As for this foolproof strategy, he had already formulated a detailed plan back when he hadn’t even touched the threshold of the Qi Circulation Realm.
Now, all that was needed was implementation.
…
The bronze bell in the mine rang out again, signaling the end of the rest period.
Chen Yan, along with the others, picked up their tools again and listlessly entered the mine tunnel.
More than three hundred Body Forging Realm laborers could mine over sixty thousand catties of raw ore daily for the Star Heaven Sect. After subsequent refinement, the Star Heaven Sect could probably extract nearly a thousand high-grade spirit stones from these sixty thousand catties of raw ore.
This was not a small amount.
“Clang! Clang!”
Deep in the mine tunnel, Chen Yan vigorously swung the metal pick in his hand, striking the ore vein before him again and again.
“Save a little energy.”
Duan Ruijie beside him looked up, glancing in Chen Yan’s direction:
“No matter how hard you work, it won’t reduce the fifty years of forced labor by even a day;
slacking off a bit won’t get you extra years added either, so why bother?”
Chen Yan didn’t speak, just secretly channeled a large amount of true qi into the metal pick in his hand.
“Crash!”
A completely different sound rang out, followed immediately by shaking in the mine tunnel.
“Not good, it’s a cave-in!”
Chen Yan shouted loudly:
“Run, it’s a cave-in!”
The people who had been stunned by the shaking in the mine tunnel, upon hearing Chen Yan’s loud shout, all began running towards the mine tunnel exit.
“Hurry, go!”
Chen Yan pulled Duan Ruijie beside him and also began running towards the mine tunnel exit.
At that moment, Chen Yan’s foot suddenly tripped over a rock. After staggering a few steps, he barely managed to steady himself, but a small booklet fell from his chest to the ground behind him.
Chen Yan immediately turned around, wanting to pick up that small booklet, but was pulled back by Duan Ruijie.
“There’s no time, hurry!”
Duan Ruijie shouted like this.
“No, that’s the Xing Family Fist Manual that Senior Brother Xing gave me. I can’t leave his fist manual in this mine tunnel!”
Chen Yan said, and at the same time gave Duan Ruijie’s back a forceful push:
“You go first, I’ll be right out!”
Duan Ruijie gritted his teeth, then clenched his fist hard:
“Hurry, Yan Chen, I’ll wait for you up ahead!”
Then he continued running towards the mine tunnel exit.
Chen Yan watched Duan Ruijie’s departing figure. After confirming he was far enough away, he very casually strolled a few steps deeper into the mine tunnel.
Then, a point of Clear Light manifested at his fingertip, pointing at the stone ceiling above his head—
Kongshan Finger!
