Soul Emperor Awakening

With the help of the Primordial Stones, Lin Xuan’s recovery improved slightly, but looking at them gave him another idea.

"Yunhai, do you have an Engraving Knife here?" Lin Xuan asked.

His idea was simple: carve the half-fist-sized Primordial Stone into a statue. He had never carved a Primordial Stone before, but he knew its effects would be inferior to those of Five-Colored Spirit Wood. The stone couldn’t restore its own Elemental Power, making it essentially a disposable item.

For now, though, creating a statue was his safest bet. That way, he would immediately have a powerful statue to assist him, which was a much faster solution than slowly absorbing the energy to recover himself. It would take him half a month to recover to the Spirit Refining Stage, but once the statue was carved, he would instantly have a guard at or above that Level.

The more practical choice was obvious. ’My own Cultivation is a bit low, but if I can build up my numbers, what is there to fear?’

"An Engraving Knife? We have ordinary knives. I’ll go get one for you now!" Tuo Yunhai didn’t ask any questions. He trotted out, the shackles on his ankles rattling with a heartbreaking sound.

A moment later, Tuo Yunhai ran back inside, a small knife in his hand. It wasn’t a high-quality tool, but for Lin Xuan, it was more than enough. With his years of accumulated skill, he could easily carve with any reasonably sharp blade. It wasn’t a difficult task for him.

Just as he took the knife and was about to start carving, his ears twitched. He quickly shoved the Primordial Stone into a nearby corner and stared intently at the entrance. Tuo Yunhai, not knowing what was happening, followed his gaze. A few figures soon appeared in the doorway, their arrival announced by the rattling of shackles.

’More slaves from this place...’ Lin Xuan had already heard them approaching. Even with his grievous injuries, his hearing was just as sharp as ever, allowing him to clearly perceive his surroundings.

"Yunhai, we’ve told you before to secretly move this person out of here. Why won’t you listen to us?" The young man in the lead glared at Lin Xuan with disgust. Injured people had no hope of survival here; they were simply thrown outside the mine.

One might think they could survive after being thrown out of the mine, but that was a fool’s hope. Food was only available inside the mine. And even if they were outside, could they really escape with their meager abilities? Besides, only the grievously wounded—the hopeless cases—were thrown out. To put it bluntly, they couldn’t escape even if you gave them a boat.

Even if they were healthy, escaping without a boat was impossible. Wandering around outside with their level of Cultivation would only lead to death. It was safe to say that no one ever escaped this place unless they were rescued.

There was, however, another simple way out: earn enough Primordial Stones. The price for freedom was one million Primordial Stones. Once you paid up, the guards would let you go. But who could possibly dig up a million Primordial Stones in a short amount of time?

Take Tuo Yunhai, for instance. He had been here for years and had only managed to mine a few tens of thousands of Primordial Stones. A slightly stronger man might, at most, dig up a hundred thousand. Mining a million Primordial Stones would take at least ten or twenty years. Who could be sure they’d even be alive by then?

When Lin Xuan heard the requirement, he knew it was an impossible task. Without a rescuer, they were all doomed to die here.

"Brother Long, he’s badly hurt. Just let him rest for a bit. I’m begging you, please don’t tell the guards," Tuo Yunhai pleaded.

"Yunhai, this isn’t a long-term solution. He’ll be discovered sooner or later. Besides, you’re giving him half of your daily rations. How will you have any strength left to work? If you don’t have the strength to work, you’ll end up as one of the corpses in that pile outside!" Long Ba, the leader, shot Lin Xuan a disgusted look, as if he were staring at a piece of trash.

In his eyes, anyone who couldn’t work was trash.

A flicker of disgust crossed Lin Xuan’s eyes. ’This man is treacherous and cunning.’ Tuo Yunhai had mentioned him before. He had said that this Long Ba was their leader and supposedly looked out for them. In return, they were to give him a portion of the Primordial Stones they mined so he could be the first to collect a million. Once he got out, he promised he would send people back to rescue them.

He even used other brainwashing tactics, bragging about how wealthy he was and promising to use his riches to come back and save them.

To Lin Xuan, the whole story was laughable. ’He’s just treating them like idiots. If he was really from such a powerful background, someone would have rescued him long ago. Why would he be stuck here toiling in the mines?’

’The pitiful always have their flaws.’

But this Long Ba standing before him had no pitiable qualities whatsoever. He was simply using the others, making them work for him so that he could be the first to escape. Seeing that the injured Lin Xuan couldn’t work and was nothing but a burden, it was only natural that he disliked him.

"It’s fine. I’ll just eat a little less. I can still do my work just fine, so I won’t get berated!" Tuo Yunhai forced a brave smile. He wasn’t crying; there was only resolve in his expression.

Lin Xuan felt a lump form in his throat. It was like seeing a reflection of his past self—facing every hardship with a smile, while the bitterness was known only to him.

That awful-tasting steamed bun was an entire day’s ration. ’This "Brother Long" is just afraid that if Yunhai doesn’t eat enough, he’ll get beaten by the guards. That would mean losing a worker, which in turn would delay his own escape.’ Lin Xuan had seen through such schemes long ago.

"Let’s hope so. The point is, I told you to go out and scavenge for something useful that could help all of us. I won’t say any more. You have five days, max. Get him out of here." Long Ba snorted, then turned and left with his men, calling back over his shoulder, "Utterly useless. More of a hindrance than a help. Can’t even see the bigger picture!"

The other men also shot him disgusted looks. Here, the law of survival of the fittest was on full display. No one would take care of someone severely injured and unable to work. If the guards found out, they would be furious. A lack of manpower was the last thing they worried about; new slaves were brought in daily. A few deaths meant nothing. What mattered was that the rest worked hard, not that they wasted energy caring for the wounded.

Tuo Yunhai’s smile stiffened. He turned to Lin Xuan and said, "Brother Lin, don’t pay any attention to what they said. It’s almost time for work, so I have to go. Eat up and get plenty of rest. I’ll sneak you a few more of these Primordial Stones later. Just wait for my good news!"

"Wait!" Lin Xuan grabbed him and pushed the steamed bun back into his hands. "I’m not hungry. You eat it."

But Tuo Yunhai shook his head. "Brother Lin, there’s no way you’re not hungry. Don’t listen to them. I’m small, I don’t eat much. One bun is enough to fill me up, really! I have to go now. Get some rest!"

With that, he ran off, ignoring Lin Xuan’s protests.

Watching the boy’s back disappear from the entrance of the cave, Lin Xuan squeezed the steamed bun in his hand until it was flat. Then, without a word, he shoved it into his mouth and began to eat.

He sat down, took out the Primordial Stone, and began to carve. He poured all his strength into every slice of the knife. In that moment, it felt as if he had returned to his earliest days in the Lin Family, carving the most unremarkable of objects. But here, in this place, it would have an immeasurable impact.