Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

"Yang Xiao, you... what did you do?"

Seeing them collapse to the ground one by one, it took Ye Wanqing a long moment to react. She asked, her face a mask of astonishment.

Yang Xiao just smiled. "It's nothing. Just used two enhanced doses of Wind-Induced Intoxication."

As he spoke, he walked over to the Yan Family's Daoist Tier Cultivator and retrieved his and Ye Wanqing's Daoist Rings. In his heart, he felt a pang of regret.

Originally, when he heard the man say he wouldn't kill them if they just handed over their Cultivation Resources, Yang Xiao had actually been tempted.

After all, the man's aptitude was quite extraordinary.

He had reached the level of a Treasure Body.

'If his personality was only twisted because of the Immortal Dao Will, then I could have taken him in and properly disciplined him.'

But now, it was proven that even without the Immortal Dao Will, the man's nature was still warped. He clearly knew that killing them would be a waste of effort.

Yet he still intended to kill them after getting the Daoist Rings.

A guy like that.

Keeping him alive was just asking for trouble.

So killing him was the only option.

After returning the Daoist Ring to Ye Wanqing, Yang Xiao took out a longsword—the very same Dragon Roar Sword he had used long ago.

'With my strength sealed, this is the only kind of sword I can use right now. If I tried to switch to Spirit Weapons and Treasure Weapons, I probably wouldn't even be able to lift them.'

Yang Xiao sighed. With one strike of his sword, he lopped off a man's head.

Luckily, these men were all Immortal Cultivators. If they had been Martial Cultivators, even while unconscious, their bodies would have been tempered by energy and become extremely tough.

With Yang Xiao's current strength, wielding what was merely a sharp sword in the eyes of a mortal, he probably wouldn't have been able to kill them even if they were unconscious and letting him hack away.

But Immortal Cultivators were different.

These guys single-mindedly focused on cultivating the Spirit Seed they received, constantly nourishing it. As a result, their cultivation speed was much faster than that of Martial Cultivators. Thanks to the Spirit Seed, their combat power was extraordinary from the beginning, and they didn't have much of a disadvantage in the Late Stage either.

However, once they fell unconscious, as long as they weren't True Immortal Level experts, their frail bodies were much easier to deal with.

Even for the current Yang Xiao, it didn't take much effort.

At first, Ye Wanqing was still a bit uncomfortable with it all, but after seeing Yang Xiao's resolve as he killed one person with a single strike, she joined in after a moment.

And so, in just a short time, more than forty powerful Immortal Cultivators died at the hands of Yang Xiao and Ye Wanqing.

If word of this got out, no one would believe it.

"Let's collect all their Storage Rings, too. Anyone out here robbing people is bound to have plenty of resources on them. We'll need them later."

Yang Xiao said to Ye Wanqing, dusting off his hands.

Ye Wanqing nodded and began to collect them.

Soon, all the Immortal Cultivators' Storage Rings were in her hands. She checked them one by one and found that, just as Yang Xiao had said, there were quite a few good things inside, especially an abundance of Cultivation Resources.

Moreover, Ye Wanqing also found a Flying Treasure Weapon among them.

It was a rather impressive-looking Treasure Carriage. With this, Ye Wanqing would no longer have to be in physical contact with Yang Xiao to carry him while flying.

Although his aura had been intoxicating to the young woman, she even found herself missing it.

But then she remembered that it was for this very reason that she hadn't noticed the Immortal Remnants earlier. If Yang Xiao hadn't drugged them, things would have likely ended in disaster.

After this incident, Ye Wanqing's faith in Yang Xiao grew even stronger.

She told herself never to doubt him again.

Doubting him just now had made her feel incredibly guilty.

And a little anxious.

She was afraid Yang Xiao would grow distant because of it.

However, Yang Xiao paid it no mind. After all, anyone would have had their doubts and hesitations in that situation.

It was only human nature. If he were to hold a grudge over something like that, he would have to be an incredibly petty person.

Yang Xiao didn't consider himself that kind of person.

So, he didn't let the matter bother him.

What did concern him was what Ye Wanqing had said earlier—that a disaster was unfolding at the mine with a large population of mortals.

This was something Yang Xiao cared about a great deal.

It concerned his Path of the Human Emperor, his very first foundation.

He now had resources, Cultivation Techniques, and experience; the only thing he lacked were people to strive alongside him.

The more such people he had,

the more good prospects there would be.

Besides, to walk the Path of the Human Emperor, one must possess the heart of a Human Emperor.

Yang Xiao could not simply stand by and watch these mortals die needlessly.

Thus, without any delay,

at his command, Ye Wanqing steered the Flying Treasure Carriage toward the mine, now less than two hundred li away, at top speed.

「Meanwhile.」

At the very mine that held Yang Xiao's attention,

the air was filled with cries and sobs.

A mining accident, the likes of which hadn't been seen in many years, had occurred.

"What are you doing? What's all this crying and shouting about? So a few worthless peasants died, so what? Scram, all of you! If the Upper Immortals see this, you'll all be in for it!"

Aside from the mortals who were crying and shouting, seemingly searching for their relatives,

there was also a group of burly, formidable-looking thugs, wielding whips and relentlessly driving them back.

They were trying to force them to work in the other mine shafts.

But this time, it wasn't just a few people who had died.

It was a full thousand people—an entire mine shaft.

At this place, the Flame Cloud Mountain Mine, there were a total of seventy-eight mine shafts. Eighteen of them were large shafts, each capable of holding three thousand people mining at once.

The remaining sixty were small shafts.

The small shafts could each accommodate five hundred people.

The shaft where the accident occurred this time was a small one, but it happened to be during a shift change. So, when the collapse happened, a full thousand people were stuck inside—unable to get in, unable to get out.

All of them were crushed beneath the rubble.

Their fate was unknown.

Meanwhile, the Upper Immortals in charge of the mine had been in seclusion for the past few days. For some reason, none of them had shown their faces for three days.

Even with such a massive disaster, not a single Upper Immortal had come out to rescue people or stabilize the situation.

Only those burly-looking thugs were here, flaunting their power and ordering the others around.

These men were the Supervisors from the various mine shafts. Although they were also mortals, their hearts were all incomparably black. The Mining Slaves hated them even more than they hated the high-and-mighty Upper Immortals.

Because these brutes would resort to their whips at the slightest provocation, lashing out at the old, the young, and even children without any hesitation. If they felt like hitting someone, they did.

They forced them into the mine shafts to dig for the difficult-to-extract Elemental Stone Ore.

Now, the collapse had happened.

Most of these Mining Slaves had lived here for a very long time. Some came from families who had been here for generations—born here, raised here, and now slaving away their lives here.

As a result, many of them were friends and relatives.

Naturally, they had all swarmed here.

But now, with a thousand people buried below, their fates unknown, these Supervisors not only weren't organizing a rescue, they were actually ordering everyone else to get back to mining.

Instantly, some of the miners' eyes turned red with fury.

But their long-term submission,

had robbed them of the ability and courage to resist.

So, they just stood there in silent protest, refusing to move an inch even as the Supervisors' whips rained down on them.

Seeing this, the Supervisors were not the least bit afraid.

"You think standing here is going to do anything? Fine! Anyone who doesn't get back to mining gets the whip! Brothers, let 'em have it! I want to see just how long they can last."

With the head Supervisor's command,

a hundred thick leather whips cracked down.

They showed no mercy whatsoever.

Some of them even specifically targeted the frail and the young.

A few lashes were enough to knock them unconscious.

The sight sent a chill down the spines of the onlookers.

But the Supervisors just roared with laughter.

Utterly shameless.

Until...

a Flying Treasure Carriage hovered in the air above.

Only then did the Supervisors stop.

One by one, they looked over with curiosity.

'Could it be that new Upper Immortals have arrived?'