Eastern Wasteland. Northern Region.
Desolate earth. Crimson soil. Red-brown stone. Here, desolation and barrenness were eternal constants.
The Golden Crow sun hung high, releasing vast solar essence that clashed against lingering lunar radiance from the night. Yin and Yang merged, producing dense violet qi.
Many cultivators whose practice concerned the Eastern Violet Qi rose early, preparing to capture that first thread of qi and refine it into their bodies to advance their cultivation.
But some cultivators were different.
They had no rights. They toiled day after day in the depths of mineral veins, laboring bitterly. They were the mine slaves of the Northern Region.
Across the empty, desolate land stood many stone houses, shadows moving between them — mortals who had traveled thousands of li to dig for ore here.
A dark-skinned youth, dressed in coarse cloth, shouldered a pickaxe. His delicate features were unremarkable beneath that dark complexion. Only his eyes were exceptional — spirit gleaming within, restrained and inward. At first glance they seemed ordinary, but study them closely and you would find those pupils unusually warm and gentle, pleasant to behold.
Before the youth stretched a boundless plain, bare and empty. Nothing. Emptiness and bleakness defined this place.
It could be said: this was barren land, a wasteland without human habitation, devoid of any vitality.
Yet some claimed this place had once known flourishing flowers, thriving vegetation, essence flowing through heaven and earth as thick as substance. Those who came here now scoffed at such tales.
But Qin Tian knew. All of it was true.
At least... it had been true once.
The times had simply changed.
A supreme Saint Emperor had passed into nirvana here. Violent Great Dao fluctuations had altered the rules of the Dao, transforming this region's environment from Primordial Antiquity toward Desolate Antiquity. The laws of the Great Dao remained unchanged for millions of years, perpetually suppressing the vitality of this land.
The essence that once permeated heaven and earth had been buried deep underground. Accumulating over countless years, it finally formed Origin mines.
Thus, the Origin Stones produced here became territory that every Holy Land contested, sparking endless bloodshed and chaos.
As for how Qin Tian knew all this so clearly...
Because he was a reincarnator, from another world. Certain stories of this realm had been written as novels in his world.
How Qin Tian had reincarnated — that was another tired old tale.
A tired old orphanage. A tired old concrete mixer truck. Bang. Qin Tian was smashed into meat paste.
This life, passing through life and death, breaking through the riddle of the womb, he finally realized what kind of world he had entered.
Ascend the Heavenly Road, tread and sing, flick a finger to shroud the heavens.
This was a magnificent world. Also a cruel one.
For the strong, they themselves were eternal, immortal through the ages. With a thought, myriad Daos followed. Above, they could strike the Nine Heavens. Below, they could shake the Ten Earths. Unmatched across past and present.
But... for the weak, it was cruel. Struggling to survive in this world, they were merely ornaments to the flourishing age forged by the strong.
Such as himself, in this life.
Qin Tian's identity this time wasn't good, but not terribly bad either.
Possessing cultivation aptitude, he had surpassed ninety-nine percent of humanity from the very start.
Picked up the mountain by his master in this life from childhood.
Two lifetimes as a human — though he had lost his memories due to reincarnation, and possessed no special physique, he showed spiritual talent on the path of cultivation.
Ultimately, he was selected as an immortal seedling of a minor grotto-heaven.
Following this path step by step, perhaps one day he might become a supreme Four Pillars Great Emperor.
But everything shattered when he was eight. Bandits attacked the mountain gate, killed the sect master, burned and looted, committing every evil.
His master, who had treated him as his own, also died in that calamity of battle.
In great grief.
His past life memories awakened. And Qin Tian himself lost consciousness from the impact of those memories.
When he woke, Qin Tian had already been sold to the Northern Region by the bandits, sent underground to dig Origin Stones.
Three years he had dug.
---
Qin Tian shouldered his pickaxe, arriving before the Origin mine entrance.
Here was different from the desolation of other regions — vitality gathered, exceptionally lush. Ancient trees reached to the sky, over a hundred meters tall like small mountains, branches stretching toward heaven. Ancient vines coiled like horned dragons crawling over cliff faces.
This region was covered in profound array patterns, condensing the power of mountains and rivers, guarding the Origin zone of Shimmering Light Holy Land.
Before the mine entrance, a mine slave hung suspended. Drops of blood fell from his wounds to the ground, pooling into a crimson puddle.
A steward-dressed middle-aged man wielded a whip, divine power attached. Each lash split skin and flesh. When tired, he finally stopped and said:
"I'm telling you, all resources in this mine belong to Shimmering Light Holy Land."
"And you are merely laborers, only responsible for digging ore. No one touches their master's property."
"All thieves meet this fate."
The steward pointed at the hanging mine slave and cursed:
"Damn it, actually daring to hide a single jin of exotic Origin. Simply doesn't want to live."
Exotic Origin — in his past life reading novels, Ye Fan would casually cut a stone and find a hundred jin of exotic Origin. A hundred jin of exotic Origin, merely fist-sized.
A single jin of exotic Origin, only fingernail-sized. And yet that fingernail-sized piece of exotic Origin was enough to cost a man his life.
"You listen. If I catch anyone stealing public Origin again, this is the result!" The middle-aged cultivator held his whip, pointing at the mine slave hanging in midair.
"Now — into the mine!"
Qin Tian and the others entered the mineral vein, exchanging with the previous shift.
The divine mirror suspended high at the entrance shone with light without cease. Countless Dao characters floated upon its surface, as if reflecting boundless void, illuminating the human form, leaving Origin nowhere to hide.
The Origin Stone minefield was not one large underground tunnel, but countless branch veins, like the capillaries of a human body.
Origin was scattered, buried between mountain stones, similar to pearls. Originally merely ordinary rock, gradually transformed by the daily washing of essence, wrapped in essence, finally forming Origin.
Thus to mine Origin Stones, one had to follow the direction of underground vein essence circulation. And the distribution of underground vein essence was complex and intricate — even Supremes could not claim complete mastery. Hence the mine slaves: cast a wide net, catch many fish.
Qin Tian avoided the main group, stopping and starting, following his intuition deeper, finally halting at a branch vein. His hair stood on end:
"Right here!"
While no one was around, while Shimmering Light Holy Land inspectors couldn't see.
Qin Tian swung his pickaxe down. A divine beam shot upward. Divine Source blinding, dazzling crystal filling his eyes.
The darkness where five fingers couldn't be seen was dyed with golden splendor. Even sand and mud became sacred, as if placed within a Buddhist Sect holy land — flowing light, resplendent colors, pure and translucent, flashing and flickering.
Radiant light, sacred aura rushing to heaven, making every pore of the body open, the entire body comfortable and relaxed, as if embraced by immortal spiritual qi.
"As expected, following intuition, choosing this path wasn't wrong. My luck really is good."
Qin Tian carefully extracted the Divine Source, holding it in his palm. In this moment, every pore of his body opened. The most primal essence of heaven and earth entered, making his entire body comfortable and relaxed.
This was Divine Source. Without even being refined, it already made one feel its extraordinariness.
Merely capturing the slight Origin essence that Divine Source leaked on its own, Qin Tian felt the impulse to break through to Spring of Life.
The Sea of Bitterness trembled. The dead, lifeless sea of dead qi, the Wheel of Life being excavated, about to birth a thread of vitality, advancing to the second minor realm of the Wheel and Sea Realm.
But Qin Tian suppressed it fiercely.
"No, not yet." Qin Tian murmured low.
To prevent anyone from absorbing Origin within the mine, there was not only internal surveillance but also records of cultivators' realms before and after entering.
Once anyone broke through their current realm, they would be killed without question, regardless of right or wrong.
Divine Source was different from other Origin. Divine Source contained life origin qi and divine substance, even able to elevate a living being's Origin, allowing a cultivator's aptitude to sublimate.
A saying circulated in the mine:
Dig up one piece of Divine Source, and your life changes.
Immediately become an outer disciple of Shimmering Light Holy Land, then... continue digging Origin.
After all, mine slaves who could dig up Divine Source were rare — naturally they would be put to use where they suited best. Such as digging Origin.
"As expected, my method is correct. As the ritual progresses, my fortune rises too. Picking up Divine Source upon going out, for me this is ordinary." Qin Tian was extremely pleased, eyes narrowing.
"At this rate, before long, perhaps my fortune can rival my son Wang Teng, that former protagonist." Qin Tian smiled very happily.
Knowledge from his past life was his most precious treasure.
He could find some unknown secrets from it, thereby obtaining fortune.
Such as the ritual to elevate one's own fortune — that was something he had experimented with bit by bit.