“I… I do not know. I am just in charge of watching these people.”
The demon cultivator trembled all over in fear and shook his head as he said.
“Benefactor, he would not know the things you are asking about. Only the higher-ups of the Demon Stone Sect would know. He is just a small fry below.”
At that moment, a middle-aged cultivator wearing a grey cloth shirt walked over and said.
“Oh!” Chen Ping let out an “oh” and casually waved his hand.
That demon cultivator did not even have time to let out a scream before turning into a wisp of black smoke and vanishing without a trace.
“This benefactor, thank you for saving us.”
The middle-aged cultivator deeply bowed to Chen Ping, his face full of gratitude.
Chen Ping waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding cultivators who were still full of fear on their faces, and said in a deep voice: “Fellow Daoist, I have a few questions I would like to ask you.”
“Please ask, benefactor. I will tell you everything I know truthfully.” The middle-aged cultivator hurriedly said.
“What world is this? Why are so many human and beast cultivators enslaved by the demon race to mine spirit stones?” Chen Ping asked.
The middle-aged cultivator sighed, a pained expression appearing on his face: “This is the Yuande Realm, a world where cultivation is mainly based on spiritual qi.
Originally, our Yuande Realm had three races: humans, beasts, and demons. Although there were occasional fights over resources, it was more or less balanced, maintaining a relative equilibrium.”
“Then why has it become like this now?” Chen Ping pressed.
“This all started a hundred years ago.”
A trace of fear flashed in the middle-aged cultivator’s eyes, “A hundred years ago, suddenly an immortal from the Heavenly Realm descended upon our Yuande Realm. That immortal was incredibly powerful, able to destroy heaven and earth with a raise of his hand or a stomp of his foot. He chose to help the demon race and suppressed the resistance of us humans and beasts with thunderous methods.”
“From then on, the demon race began to enslave us to mine spirit stones, then using the method taught by that immortal to refine the spirit stones into immortal stones.”
The middle-aged cultivator said bitterly, “That immortal seems to need immortal stones very much, so he ordered the demon race to establish countless such mining fields throughout the entire Yuande Realm.”
“Why do you not resist?” Chen Ping asked in confusion, “Is there no expert in the entire Yuande Realm who can oppose the demon race?”
The middle-aged cultivator gave a bitter laugh: “Resist? How could we not have resisted? But that Heavenly Realm immortal was simply too powerful. The strongest few ancestors of our Yuande Realm joined hands and were still not his opponents; all of them were killed by him. From then on, we lost the power to resist.”
“Moreover, the demon race planted restrictions on our bodies. Once we have any thought of resistance, we will suffer the pain of ten thousand ants devouring the heart.”
As the middle-aged cultivator spoke, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing a black rune on his arm, “Look, this is the slave mark planted by the demon race.”
Chen Ping looked at that black rune, a flash of cold light in his eyes.
He could feel the evil aura emanating from the rune; this was actually a vicious restriction that could control the mind and spirit.
“Then you just let them enslave you like this?” Chen Ping said in a deep voice.
“What can we do?”
The middle-aged cultivator said helplessly, “Resistance is a dead end. Not resisting at least allows us to linger on. Moreover, the demon race threatens us that if we do not obey obediently, they will exterminate our clansmen.”
“What realm is that Heavenly Realm immortal’s strength at?” Chen Ping asked.
“I do not know.” The middle-aged cultivator shook his head, “Anyway, in the entire Yuande Realm, no one is his match in a single move.”
Chen Ping pondered for a moment, then continued to ask: “Then where is this immortal now?”
Chen Ping wanted to meet this immortal from the Heavenly Realm, especially for the technique of refining spirit stones into immortal stones.
“That immortal only occasionally appears at the main altar of the Demon Stone Sect, and each time he appears, he takes away a large amount of immortal stones. Usually, it is the sect master of the Demon Stone Sect who manages these mining fields of ours.”
“I do not know where that immortal is now either.” The middle-aged cultivator said.
