Upon arriving at the new location, Lin Hao had a brief conversation with the people in his shared room, and soon enough, he became familiar with their faces.

Afterward, the wooden house fell silent as the ten servant disciples began their cultivation.

As servant disciples, if they didn’t become outer sect disciples within three years, they would have to leave the sect and go to the mundane cities controlled by Xuanyue Sect. These cities had very little spiritual energy, far less than the mountains where the sect was located.

If they couldn’t ascend to the outer sect, their path to immortality would be cut off.

Therefore, every moment during these three years was crucial for the servant disciples, and they couldn’t afford to slack off in their cultivation.

The next morning, as the sun rose, Lin Hao finished his cultivation, left the wooden house, and followed Jiang Sheng and the others to the mining site. The underground space of the elder servant disciple mining area was much larger than the one he had been in previously.

Fifteen minutes later…

The group of ten arrived at their destination.

"Clang! Clang!"

Many servant disciples were already there, swinging their pickaxes to mine.

"Lin Junior Brother, this is our territory," Jiang Sheng explained as the leader.

"Got it, Senior Brother Jiang."

Lin Hao quickly scanned the area and saw that the space they were assigned was quite large—about 100 meters or more in length.

"Let’s get to work!"

They scattered, each grabbing a pickaxe and starting to mine the hard ground.

Time passed quickly, and soon an hour had gone by.

Lin Hao noticed that the soil and rock in this mine were much tougher, but there was noticeably more spiritual iron than in the mine of the new servant disciples’ area.

He used his cultivation at the second level of Qi Refining to channel spiritual energy into his hands and worked diligently. After just one hour, he had mined nine pounds of spiritual iron.

"Junior Brother Lin, you’re amazing! You’re mining so quickly," Jiang Sheng said in surprise as he watched Lin Hao swing the pickaxe, nearly catching up with the elder disciples at the second level of Qi Refining in terms of output.

"I’m a newcomer, and I don’t want to hold everyone back, so I had to give it my all," Lin Hao replied with an honest smile.

As a Five Elements spirit root, his spiritual energy was much stronger than other disciples at the same cultivation level. After just one hour, he had mined nine pounds of spiritual iron. If he really exerted himself, he could easily surpass ten pounds per hour.

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"I see. Junior Brother Lin, don’t rush. Take it easy, don’t overexert yourself. Work at a steady pace," Jiang Sheng kindly advised.

"Understood, Senior Brother Jiang," Lin Hao nodded. After interacting with Jiang Sheng, he found him to be kind and not harsh like the cruel and demanding Yan Heng from the new servant disciple area.

The hours passed, and soon it was noon.

After a morning of hard work, the group had mined more than 170 pounds of spiritual iron.

The four disciples at the second level of Qi Refining had each mined about twenty pounds, adding up to over ninety pounds. The six others, who were still at the first level of Qi Refining, had been cultivating for about a year, so their spiritual energy was stronger than the new servant disciples. Their mining speed wasn’t as fast as the second level disciples, but they weren’t too slow either. Each of them mined around thirteen pounds, bringing their total to about eighty pounds.

"Junior Brother Lin, once we finish the morning’s work, those of us at the second level of Qi Refining don’t have to come back to the mine in the afternoon. We can use our free time as we wish," Jiang Sheng said, putting away his mining tools.

"However, Senior Brother Jiang, in order to get three bowls of spiritual porridge, I need to mine ten pounds of spiritual iron. But I only mined twenty-two pounds this morning, so I still don’t have enough to trade for three bowls," Lin Hao wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"You don’t have to worry about that. The other six first level disciples in our group will continue working in the afternoon. If you don’t have enough, they’ll help us make up the difference," Jiang Sheng said, without any guilt or hesitation. He smiled and added, "The second level disciples need to focus on cultivation. The stronger we are, the better our position in the mine."

"Got it," Lin Hao nodded. Upon arriving here, he had decided to follow the rules, and so he agreed to Jiang Sheng’s suggestion. He then prepared to go to the dining hall with the other servant disciples.

Suddenly, a group of people blocked their path. One of them, a hawk-nosed youth, spoke with an unfriendly expression: "Jiang Sheng, your strongest member, Xu Zhi Kai, has left. Now that there’s a newcomer, I think it’s time you move aside. This area is ours now."

"Zou Shan Hu, you want to take our territory? Haven’t you been taught a lesson yet?" Jiang Sheng’s brows furrowed as he coldly responded.

"Without Xu Zhi Kai, you won’t be able to hold onto this place. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave," Zou Shan Hu’s eyes gleamed with greed. He had long coveted this area rich in spiritual iron. With Xu Zhi Kai gone, he saw an opportunity to take over.

"Looks like it’s time to fight," Jiang Sheng’s face darkened. He knew that with the loss of a strong member and the arrival of a newcomer, their overall strength had decreased, and they were at a disadvantage in a fight. However, he wasn’t willing to give up such a rich mining area so easily.

The tension in the air thickened, and Lin Hao’s expression grew serious. It was his first day in this area, and already he was caught up in a territorial dispute. He knew that as a member of the same room, he couldn’t stay out of it.

"Heh, looks like there’s going to be a good show," some of the other servant disciples muttered as they gathered around to watch.

"Hmph, you’ve got no idea what you’re in for. Get ready to regret it," Zou Shan Hu sneered and called for his followers to charge, shouting, "Teach them a lesson."

"Damned bastards, we’ll fight them together!" Jiang Sheng roared, his face flushed with anger as he clenched his fists, leading the charge.

Seeing that their strongest member was so fierce, the other disciples quickly followed suit. Life in the elder servant disciple area had been tough, and they knew that if they showed weakness now, they would be bullied by others.

"Bang! Bang!"

The sounds of fists meeting flesh rang out.

Lin Hao, caught in the middle, didn’t have time to think. Soon, a disciple at the second level of Qi Refining charged at him with a fierce look and raised his fist to strike.

"Isn’t it supposed to be peaceful among cultivators? Why are they picking on me?" Lin Hao’s heart burned with anger. His eyes reddened, and his spiritual energy surged as he clenched his fists, preparing to fight back.

Thus began his second fight in the cultivation world.