Chipping off a piece often required immense effort.
Moreover, mining was a perilous undertaking.
Within this vein, female laborers frequently met their demise, crushed by collapsing colossal ore rocks.
Although these female laborers generally possessed some cultivation, these were no ordinary stones. Any single massive rock weighed hundreds of thousands of jin, and their hardness rivaled spiritual weapons. Being struck by one was akin to being hit by a spiritual weapon.
Death or severe injury was the usual outcome.
Among these female laborers, a young woman stood out conspicuously.
Despite her extreme fatigue, her eyes shone with a bright luminescence, like a lamp that no wind or rain could extinguish.
This gave her an indescribable aura.
It was Lan Xueyi, brought to the Upper Realm by the Snow King Palace!
"Sister Xueyi, tell me about your story with your husband," said a cheerful woman of twenty-five or twenty-six named Zhou Lu, her voice filled with anticipation.
"There's nothing much to tell," Lan Xueyi replied, a hint of shyness in her tone.
Knowing Lan Xueyi's delicate nature, the cheerful woman didn't press further. She sighed, "Alas, I wonder how many more years we'll be stuck with this dirty, tiring work. It's mining, mining, mining every moment... nothing but mining! We have absolutely no time to cultivate."
"It's been seven or eight years since I was framed and punished to work as a laborer in this spirit mine. In these seven or eight years, my cultivation hasn't advanced at all; instead, it has regressed significantly. I'm still stuck at the middle stage of the Heavenly Origin Realm. According to the rules, only by breaking through to the Giant Spirit Realm can one shed the identity of a laborer..."
"I suppose there's no hope for me in this lifetime! The palace set this rule, likely never intending for us laborers to have a chance to rise." Zhou Lu shook her head with a bitter smile.
"There will be hope." Lan Xueyi offered Zhou Lu a brilliant smile. Such a smile was exceedingly precious in this harsh, cold mine, possessing a remarkable infectious quality.
Zhou Lu smiled in return, though she didn't take Lan Xueyi's words too seriously.
She had heard that Lan Xueyi's physique was extremely special, destined to face nine death tribulations. While each tribulation overcome would make her talent more fearsome, the tribulations themselves were considered a path of certain death!
It was said that Lan Xueyi was about to face her second tribulation, a trial far more terrifying than the first.
The Snow King Palace actually had the capability to help Lan Xueyi overcome the second tribulation.
However, the Snow King Palace had abandoned her.
This was because the Nine Deaths Spirit Phoenix Body was an insatiable void!
Clearly, the Snow King Palace did not wish to waste more resources on her.
Zhou Lu patted Lan Xueyi's shoulder sympathetically.
"Even though I don't know where your hope comes from, having hope is always a good thing!" Zhou Lu said.
Lan Xueyi smiled, not elaborating further.
Her gaze drifted towards the sky, where a young figure materialized in her mind's eye.
This was the source of her persistent hope, the reason she hadn't given up struggling even as her second tribulation loomed.
Just then.
*Crack!*
A long whip, carrying a fierce whistling sound through the air, struck Lan Xueyi's arm and back heavily.
Instantly, a shocking bloody gash was torn across her arm and back.
Blood immediately stained Lan Xueyi's clothes red.
"Hmph! You lowly wretch, a prisoner, and you dare slack off! I'll whip you to death!"
The three female disciples from before appeared.
This whip was precisely from one of them, a disciple named Zhang Yan.
She raised her hand to strike again.
Zhou Lu couldn't stand it and stepped in front of Lan Xueyi, saying, "Zhang Yan, you've gone too far! What right do you have to hit her!"
"Tch, I thought it was someone important. So it's you. You're no longer a disciple of the Snow King Palace. You're just a laborer now. You can barely protect yourself, and you want to protect her!"
*Crack!*
Another whip cracked.
The long whip, covered in sharp thorns, coiled like a venomous snake and viciously lashed across Zhou Lu's face, tearing away a large chunk of flesh. She was sent flying backward.
Zhang Yan laughed triumphantly!
Seven years ago, she and Zhou Lu were geniuses who entered the Snow King Palace in the same batch.
At that time, Zhou Lu's talent far surpassed hers, quickly gaining the attention of an elder in the Snow King Palace.
Consumed by jealousy, Zhang Yan devised a wicked scheme, framing Zhou Lu. This caused Zhou Lu to lose the elder's trust and be punished as a laborer.
Seeing someone who was once superior to her now being trampled under her feet at will, how could Zhang Yan not feel triumphant!
After whipping Zhou Lu away, Zhang Yan was still not satisfied. She raised her hand and swung her whip again, striking Lan Xueyi heavily.
Lan Xueyi's body flew sideways, crashing into a massive ore rock.
*Clang.*
A delicate small sword fell from her person.
Ignoring the pain, Lan Xueyi's expression changed. She made to snatch the small sword, as if it were something she cherished dearly.
Seeing this, Zhang Yan immediately coiled her long whip, snatching the delicate small sword into her grasp.
"Blue Snow Sword? Tch! A mere low-grade Yellow rank broken sword with nine golden patterns. You treat it like some treasure. Truly, a cheap thing deserves a broken sword!"
"You wretch, you caused our lineage to waste so much precious resources and even made us lose our qualification for the Moon Gazing Martial Gathering. Now, you're caught slacking off again. Even if I kill you today, no one will dare say a word against it!"
Zhang Yan's face contorted into a sinister grin.
She kicked the Blue Snow Sword onto the ground and, under Lan Xueyi's despairing gaze, stepped on it.
The Blue Snow Sword was merely a low-grade Yellow rank spiritual weapon, while Zhang Yan's cultivation was at the quasi-Giant Spirit Realm. With a single stomp, not only a low-grade Yellow rank, but even a low-grade Black rank spiritual weapon would be crushed.
The Blue Snow Sword immediately shattered into dozens of pieces.
"No! This was given to me by my husband!"
Lan Xueyi rushed to Zhang Yan's feet, her trembling hands gathering the fragments of the Blue Snow Sword.
"Heh, a low-grade Yellow rank broken sword. Your husband only has the nerve to give such a thing. From this, it's clear your husband is also a useless good-for-nothing. A waste paired with a short-lived ghost like you, it's quite fitting."
Zhang Yan's face was filled with mockery.
"Shut up, I won't allow you to insult my husband!" Lan Xueyi stared fixedly at Zhang Yan, speaking each word deliberately.
"Xueyi, don't retort. She's trying to provoke you, to find an excuse to kill you!" Zhou Lu cried out in alarm.
She knew Zhang Yan better than anyone.
This person was the most insidious and venomous.
As expected.
Zhang Yan began to laugh.
"Good! A mere lowly, insignificant laborer dares to talk back to me? Today, I will skin you alive and freeze you into an ice sculpture!"
*Crack!*
Zhang Yan wielded her venomous thorn whip. Instantly, spiritual energy surged from the whip, creating a terrifying whistling sound. It transformed into a colossal venomous serpent tens of meters long, madly lunging towards Lan Xueyi.
Lan Xueyi's delicate brows furrowed, and a cultivation fluctuation of the late Heavenly Origin Realm emanated from her.
Although her cultivation was far inferior to Zhang Yan's quasi-Giant Spirit Realm power, it was extremely refined and solid.
*Boom!*
The two collided fiercely.