“Boss Lu demands your presence!” Rou Mi bellowed with a commanding voice. He stood tall and imposing, like a god of justice come to pass sentence on a criminal.

Jin remained unresponsive, not even bothering to open his eyes. It wouldn’t matter if even the entire mine was about to collapse.

The amount of qi invading incorrect channels in his body had exceeded his expectations, forcing him to change his approach. Instead of going after the errant strands one by one, he spread out his consciousness, with the hopes of grabbing them all in one swoop.

“I need just a little more time!”

Rou Mi wasn’t bothered by the fact that Jin had ignored him. His stern mask even cracked a little bit, revealing a faint smile.

When they returned from the lower shafts, he was the only one with the presence of mind to keep his eyes on the prize. While everyone else was busy running their yaps, he discreetly slipped out and ran to report what had happened to Boss Lu.

It was a calculated risk. Rou knew better than most that it rarely paid to be the bearer of bad news. Thankfully, the gamble paid off.

With Lil’ Lu out of the picture, he was the next in line for promotion. All he needed to do was to prove his loyalty and usefulness to the Boss. Jin Sou refusing to cooperate was exactly the opportunity he had hoped for.

Interrupting someone in the middle of meditation was frowned upon - not that it would matter in this case - but Rou Mi was spared even that. The boy sat trembling on the floor, white-faced and sweating like a pig. In Rou Mi’s eyes, it looked like the most pathetic attempt to fake a meditative trance that he had ever seen.

“The brat is scared shitless. But closing your eyes will not make the bad things disappear.”

Even as he was secretly rejoicing, his face scrunched up in indignation. “Boss Lu has called a gathering under the sigil of the Sect, and yet you dare disobey!”

His foot shot out before he even finished speaking, not giving Jin a chance to respond. It smashed into his stomach, sending his body flailing on the floor.

Jin barely even registered the hit.

But his qi did.

All the effort he had put into building a precarious balance with the unsteady energies in his body came crashing down. The qi flared up, ignited, and surged uncontrollably into his hand meridian.

“Enough theatrics,” Rou Mi said, as he came closer to deliver another kick. “Get your ass up and—“

Jin’s fist shot out with a crack like a thunder.

The attack was so sudden, Rou Mi couldn’t even react. He stared, frozen, as the fist flew towards his face, propelled by a force powerful enough to break bones.

It missed.

A drop of sweat rolled down Rou Mi’s face. The strength hidden in that punch was far above what a second layer cultivator like Jin Sou should have been able to produce.

He quickly retreated a few steps and shouted, “Brothers! Miner Jin Sou has refused the call to gather under the auspices of the Sect! Help me bring him to justice and you will be rewarded!”

A small crowd was already forming outside the room, watching curiously what was going on. They didn’t need much encouragement. Two miners jumped in and started wailing on Jin’s helpless body.

Blood sprayed out of Jin’s mouth. That one punch he threw constituted the last of his strength. Now the qi in his meridians had turned completely chaotic, splintering from the main vein and rampaging in random channels within his body.

His muscles began to spasm uncontrollably.

He desperately tried to reassert some control over the violent energies, but his concentration crashed every time another blow landed on his body. His only consolation lied in the fact that if he was to blow up now, he’d probably take all these bastards with him.

Even the two volunteers noticed that their target didn’t seem to be putting much resistance. They kicked him a few more times for good measure and turned to Ro Mi with gratified grins on their faces, “We’ve secured the traitor!”

Rou Mi stared at the fruit of their labor with mixed feelings. He had only called for help after witnessing that one punch, but the brat pretty much collapsed right after. Moreover, Jin’s condition appeared more serious than he had planned for. It wasn’t his place to exact punishment after all.

He kept his thoughts to himself and assumed a satisfied expression.

“Well done! Now let’s bring this dog to Boss for punishment!”

The two volunteers lifted Jin up on their shoulder and followed after Rou Mi, going in the direction of the main hall.

“Make way! We’re taking this traitor to Boss Lu!”

Their voices echoed in the tunnels. More miners emerged from their rooms, and, seeing the bloodied body, joined in the crowd, forming something of a procession. Some had done so out of fear - hoping to find safety in the mob - while others simply welcomed the distraction. In the mines the monotony and routine of each day could be as cruel as the labor itself.

The main hall took up a large, spacious cavern. In the past, this place used to function as a central node of the mine, connecting together all the different passages, but nowadays it was relegated to a dining hall.

This time, however, the long tables were put away, leaving only a single one.

Boss Lu sat at the top of it.

He was a short man, but this spared him from developing a hunch so common among the older miners. His back was straight and firm. Powerful muscles coiled tightly around his limbs, giving him the kind of solidity and pressure that only came from years of labor.

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On his chest hang a silver amulet - its crest immediately recognisable to everyone.

It was the sigil of the Sect.

It bestowed absolute authority upon its holder.

To disobey its bearer’s commands was equivalent to disobeying the Sect.

The main hall began to fill with anxious whispers as more miners trickled in. Still, even as close to a hundred people had gathered, everyone waited patiently for the assembly to begin.

The group carrying Jin Sou’s battered body was the last to come in.

Boss Lu took a look. He had a faint impression of the boy called Jin Sou, but wouldn’t normally recognise him.

He frowned seeing the bloodied body.

“I shouldn’t have given the task to that halfwit, Rou Mi,” Boss Lu thought glumly.

And yet anger rose in him.

It was that little shit that got his brother killed. If he didn’t dig out that treasure, if he had kept his mouth shut, instead of fishing for favours in the most moronic way imaginable…

His own qi began to rumble. Even the miners who didn’t awaken their immortal sigil developed a certain aspect to the energies they cultivated. His was impossibly hard and tough. You could hear the mines in it, the thud of hammers and the endless toil.

He hadn’t decided what he would do with the boy when he had called the gathering.

Even with the Sect’s sigil in hand his real power was limited. All the amulet signified was that it was his responsibility to keep the miners obedient and working. And if he couldn’t maintain discipline without injuring the workers, the Sect would simply replace him with someone else.

But looking at Jin Sou’s wretched body didn’t bring him any relief. In fact his anger was growing stronger.

He stood up without making a decision, letting the energies in his meridians to circulate even faster.

He would let the qi decide.

“Lil’ Lu is dead.”

His hard voice echoed within the cavern.

The miners stirred. The rumours of warden’s death were already making rounds, but hearing it from Boss Lu’s own mouth made the matter final and indisputable.

Everyone here knew Lil’ Lu, even if they didn’t belong to his crew.

“He didn’t die because of fate. He didn’t die because of an attack of a fiend or miasma. He didn’t die because of something he did wrong. He was a hard man. But hardness is what is required in a warden.”

The miners listened in silence, letting the deep timbre of Lu’s voice wash over them.

“He was hard,” Boss Lu repeated in a solemn tone. “But his hardness made it so that you wouldn’t have to bear the hardness of Heavens.”

Agreeing voices murmured in the crowd. They knew what facing the… ‘Heavens’, as Boss Lu put it, signified. And everyone preferred the justice of mortals.

“He was killed by one of our own.”

Lu paused, letting the words sink in.

“One from his own crew. Blinded by greed when he discovered a treasure, he decided to offend the Immortal.”

The revelation was met with an uproar. A flurry of whispers and muffled voices echoed in the cavern.

“Today it was Lil’ Lu who has died. But it could have been anyone of us. We bear great labour, but we still die by the greed and selfishness of our own! It could have been his whole crew that was slain. It could be anyone of us who works with him tomorrow!”

The words boomed, making the air in the cavern tremble.

“If Lil’ Lu made a mistake, it was one of leniency. Let us discipline this one so that he never brings harm to our people again!”

“Discipline!”

Jin Sou’s body was lifted up while everyone gathered in a circle around him.

THUD!

A savage blow landed on his chest.

Rou Mi pulled away his fist. He wouldn’t have minded giving a few more hits, but Boss Lu did well stirring up the crowd.

His words have managed to reach the bitter resentment that lurked within the heart of every miner. Anywhere Rou Mi looked, he was met with eyes that blazed with unconcealed fury and indignation.

Jin Sou might have had little do with the source of their anger, but he would have to bear their wrath all the same.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

A barrage of blows bombarded Jin’s helpless body.

The heaviest strikes came from the older miners, but even the younger boys hesitated to show any mercy. They were more terrified of the maddened mob than genuinely angry, but their fear drove them to employ all the strength they could muster.

Some of them had sat huddled around Jin, listening to him read, just two days ago.

THUD!

Another strike landed, causing Jin’s chest to finally give in and crack. But even as his body was steadily reduced, the qi coursing in his meridians turned more fierce and vigorous.

Abruptly, an image of a boulder appeared in his mind.

It was the same rock that had housed the odd treasure that started it all. Just like before, it projected a sense of solidity and permanence as if it was able to bear countless blows forever without change.

Their roles were now reversed.

This time it was Jin bearing countless blows. Some of the miners had even infused their punches with qi. Such attacks penetrated deeply, reaching beyond the flesh and bone, their force shaking even the meridians.

THUD!

The qi he couldn’t control began to move along the proper pathways again.

THUD!

The words of the cultivation mantra boomed in his mind.

THUD!

Once more he felt that he could understand the cryptic words ringing in his mind. Last time he intuited the meaning of strike. This time, the concept was more complex and illusive.

A stream of images and associations shot through his mind as he struggled to reconcile them.

The cultivation mantra roared.

THUD!

Strike!

THUD!

PRESSURE.

Jin Sou’s eyes suddenly flashed open.

The stone that bears the blows of the hammer. And the miner who strikes it. The two had to appear together.

Something, like an obstruction in his meridians, broke apart.

A torrent of power shot through his body. Everything changed. Previously, the rampaging energies came close to tearing him apart. Now, the same qi was giving his wretched body the power to explode with strength.

A fist flew out and smashed into the face of one of the miners.

The sudden attack shocked everyone who saw it. Especially Rou Mi was struck with a bad premonition. It reminded him of what had happened in the living quarters.

This time the mantra didn’t break. As the hit connected, there was no disturbance in the flow of Jin’s qi. Conversely, it grew steadier and sped up, urging him to attack again.

He complied.

His fists shot out, indiscriminately striking everyone in the surroundings. There wasn’t anyone who could take even a single blow, more miners collapsed to their knees after every hit.

Even Rou Mi wasn’t able to avoid it. He criss-crossed his arms in front of his face, but the blow still pushed him into the mass of people behind him.

“He’s reached third layer!”

Shock ran through Boss Lu’s mind. It was no easy feat to reach the third layer, most miners never did in fact. They had poor talent to begin with and no cultivation resources or guidance that normal disciples enjoyed.

The qi that was humming steadily in the back of his mind grew fiercer. Something called to him.

“I want to crush him.”

The miners around Jin Sou fell into a complete disarray. Those at the front frantically tried to get away, while those at the back pushed against them, still hoping to join the battle.

Jin was acting as if he was possessed. His fist flew off in all directions. There was no technique to his attacks, but every time his fist connected with a face you could hear a sickening crack followed by a painful groan.

The qi flowing through his meridians was joyous.

He was on his last breath. His body was already beyond saving, the spiritual energies being the only thing keeping it alive and moving. The second they ran out would be his last.

With a half-conscious thought, he sensed someone approaching him from beyond the crowd of miners.

The man was like a whole mountain. He felt more indestructible than even the boulder. But if Jin had to crash against something, he wanted to crash against the hardest rock.

He pulled all of his remaining qi and held it. He didn’t understand how he knew how to do that. Pressure began to mount in his meridians, and then, with an almost audible gulp, the amassed qi shot out.

The strain bearing on his pathways was already too great. The wave of qi left grievous damage as it coursed through his meridians, but the power it contained was many times greater.

Pressure.

Strike.

It was Jin Sou’s final strike.

And then, with a clap, the whole world stopped.