He faced the Mining Altar Lotto and using his thoughts, he threw in some of the jade he had stocked up. He then stared hard at the spinning roulette wheel.

  Only Spiritual Jade that were mined were able to be used, not the ones he’d already siphoned qi out of.

  Rolling…rolling…rolling.

  Congratutions! You’ve acquired an FFF Grade reward!

  A mortal material! The faeces of a Forestpin Bison.

  A steaming brown turd nded between Gon’s feet.

  “...”

  “What the fuck!” Gon could not help but curse in his home pnet’s nguage.

  “Do you have a shit fetish, Tim?”

  Rewards are randomised.

  The cold voice of the system did not allow for rebuttal.

  Gon ignored the cow shit and sacrificed another pile of jade. Watching his inventory diminish, he could not help but feel a pang in his heart. Every time he gambled, he had to use double of the st amount of resources. It basically forced him to keep mining for rarer and higher quantities of materials.

  I’ve got enough jade for two more tries.

  “Lotto, here we go!” Gon threw the jades as if he were throwing a baseball pitch.

  The wheel began to spin once again as did Gon’s eyes.

  As it slowed down, the anticipation in Gon’s heart only increased. The fshier the lights, the more hope he grew.

  Until a brilliant golden light fshed, causing Gon to squint from the radiance.

  “Yes! This time, it has to be something good!”

  Congratutions! You’ve acquired a F Grade reward!

  A mortal weapon! The Bcksteel Bde. It has reaped many lives…

  Description: Forged by a bcksmith in his dying days, he was killed by this bde itself by the wielder, who proceeded to wipe out the very town it was made in. A bde with a truly bloody past.

  “F Grade?! Wait, a sword…”

  A three foot long, curved bde appeared within Gon’s hands. Its bck bde shone with a deathly light. Gon waved it around. His body and stance were completely unstable, and though Gon wielded it with two hands, it was like giving a child a rifle.

  “It’s rather heavy. The material it’s made of is different. Bcksteel, huh.”

  Gon summoned a pickaxe in his left hand, and waved both weapons in tandem. In the end, he held the pickaxe high to the sky.

  “As expected, the pickaxe is the way to go.” Gon smirked. He threw the bde aside and used his st lump of jade.

  The wheel began to spin.

  Rolling…rolling…rolling.

  "Alright, alright, I get it. The lotto's bloody rolling. I can clearly see that much. Why the hell are you writing out the sound of that?" Gon couldn't help but facepalm at the absurd notifications appearing in his head.

  Congratutions! You’ve acquired a F Grade reward!

  A mortal material! The Volcanic Leijen Sb.

  Description: Found in the destroyed volcanoes of the Leijen Continent. It was found within the volcanic va spouts where its innards would explode into the sky, before cooling down rapidly and mixing with the mountainous atmosphere of the region. Lightweight with high resistance to heat.

  A foot long, red, rectangur sb of metal nded in Gon’s palms. It emitted weirdly cool warmth.

  “What do I do with this? Reckon I can make a weapon out of it.” Gon pondered for a moment before pcing it aside.

  “I haven’t visited The Depths in awhile.” He raised his head and captured the four clouds he had created so far. “In the real world I’m asleep, but I haven’t been able to tell the time difference. Well, everyone else is busy training to test out the manual thanks to that old man, so I’ll spend some time unearthing anything new.”

  Gon faced the first yer within The Depths and materialised an iron pickaxe in his hand. With a single, fluid motion he carved out a rge chunk of ore.

  “That felt easier than I remember.”

  Gon remained steadfast and mined. Each strike of his pickaxe was swift and smooth. The ore he had struggled with before now fell like rain. Within a matter of minutes he had cleared out a few metres of the previously untouched yer and he could feel it…the emergence of the fifth cloud.

  He set his pickaxe down and raised his hand to wipe the sweat that was collected on his forehead, but there was none. The body he used within his Inner World was a culmination of his spirit and soul. It did not follow normal physiological functions.

  “Haha, force of habit.” Gon chuckled and envisioned the Mining Altar. With that, he teleported back onto the surface. “That’s handy. It is my own mental world after all.”

  He gazed at the new fifth cloud and felt a sense of accomplishment.

  “I’m gonna have to collect more Spiritual Jades to fill it up.” Gon looked around the empty bleached nd, and not a single jade had remained. It had all been used to acquire the Fmebreath Sb.

  “Let’s return.”

  Gon opened his eyes and gnced at his surroundings. Everyone had wrapped up their training and were sprawled atop the grass. The salty smell of sweat pervaded the atmosphere.

  “Damn, you guys stink.” Gon’s nose twitched.

  “All in a day's work, Boss.” The group said in unison.

  Gon let out a chuckle. “It’s getting dark. We already mined a fair bit of the quota. Let’s hit the hay.”

  “Yes, Boss!”

  They were so exhausted from training in the methods of the Tradies Body Manual, that plenty of the miners ended up just falling asleep on the spot.

  The group y beneath the starry sky, the cold touch of grass sent them off into a peaceful slumber. The only sound that remained was Quma and Lil Hu’s snoring.

  The sun creeped above the nearby Bcksteel Mountain Range, heralding the dawn of a new day. The group rose in harmony and got to work. Gon, Lil Hu, Mujiang and Old Qiang made their way to the nearby creek to freshen up.

  Guam, Quma, Bom and Persimmon were in charge of breakfast. Utilizing his skillset, Mujiang had created a wooden container to store any excess meat and leftover food. There was even a small section for eggs and spices. Bom lit a fire and fired up the leftover meat and eggs. And just like that, the crew was wide awake, stomachs full and ready for a hard day's work.

  “Guam, Quma, can you stay behind?” Gon signalled the twins calling them over.

  “Sure Boss Gon, what can we do for you?” replied Guam with a tilted head.

  “Give me a bit more time to handle making a forge here. For now, I have a job for you.” Gon reached into his shirt and brought out the Volcanic Leijen Sb. It glowed faintly with the colour dark orange and emitted a slight warmth, even though it was cold to the touch.

  He let Guam check out the sb, and his eyes widened from the unique properties of it. “It’s light, yet has a breathing sensation of heat. I don’t know what exactly this is, but I can check with my books.”

  “I figure a bcksmith like you can figure all that out.” Upon seeing Guam’s reaction, Gon let out a smile. “Can you craft a pickaxe for me?”

  Guam wildly nodded his head as he continued to fidget with the sb and showed it to Quma, drool escaping from his mouth. For someone who was usually calm and collected, Guam had lost his bearings. It was understandable. The Volcanic Leijen Sb was clearly a unique material not found amongst the local area. Any bcksmith would consider it an honor to craft an item from it.

  “You got it, Boss!” He replied enthusiastically.

  “It’s all yours.” Gon left it in the pair’s hands.

  “But what about this job?” the other brother Quma asked, realising what leaving to craft the pickaxe meant.

  “How long do you need?”

  “Me and my brother can get it ready in two days if we head back to the shop.” Guam replied confidently.

  “Then I’ll fulfill your quotas myself. Don’t worry about it and just craft me a damn good pickaxe.”

  “You got it, Boss!”

  The burning passion to craft an item raged within both Guam and Quma’s heart. After being forced to close down his shop, he had not worked as a bcksmith in a long time. If not for the trust and charisma Gon had shown, Guam would not risk returning to his smithy. But, he believed in his foreman and since he said it would be alright, then it surely would.

  “Then we’ll see you in two days.” Guam and Quma waved and left. Gon stared at their receding figures and thought to himself.

  Looks like I’ve got to work at triple speed for two days. But such a thing shouldn’t be hard. The thing is I also have to collect extra Spiritual Jades to store in my Inner World.

  “Alright, let’s get to work.” Gon entered the mine.

  “Ghost Axe Gon, you’re alone? Where’d Guam and Quma go?” Lil Hu noticed Gon’s entrance and couldn’t help but ask.

  “Lil Hu you bastard, you keep forcing that nickname. It’s Boss Gon to you.” Clicking his tongue, Gon felt the urge to sp this guy’s head. Wasn’t he the one that almost tried to bury him again after the commotion with the Kolomodor Sanders?

  “But it sounds cool. It suits you, Boss Gon. Or would Ghost King Gon be better?”

  Gon rubbed his knuckles on Lil Hu’s head while putting him in a chokehold. “Everyone’s gonna call you the ghost if you keep this up.”

  Tapping his forearm, Lil Hu tapped out in surrender. “Okay okay, I got it Boss!” Taking a deep breath, Lil Hu could only exhale with cold sweat forming on his head.

  “Anyway, they’ll be back in two days. I’m here, so naturally there won’t be issues with the quota.”

  Eating a fruit that Persimmon found in the forest, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “You should be honoured you received such a powerful title. Why’re you so embarrassed by it?”

  “It’s a dumb name.” Gon let Lil Hu go, scratching his ear. “I much prefer being called the Boss.”

  No one else had any more questions and went back to work. Since their leader had entrusted the duo, they didn’t feel the need to inquire any further.

  The miners worked rapidly. Spiritual Jades filled up the minecarts and were shipped out quickly. The absence of Guam and Quma could be felt, yet Gon made up for it with an unending drive. He worked with intense speed and endless strength.

  Of course, he made sure not to ck in his cultivation and filled up his fifth cloud quietly and quickly. His Blue Colr Physique however, had come to a halt. It refused to budge from the 45% it had reached.

  Strange. I’ve been working thrice as hard yet it’s not increasing. My body has gotten too used to just normal mining, I’m basically just bench pressing 10kg weights. It’s not gonna help me progress any further. Do I need to mine in that heat tunnel? Well, it’ll be resolved once Guam returns. Let’s keep this pace up.

  Gon paid no more attention and continued his work.

  And just like that, two days passed by uneventfully.

  The group had fulfilled the quota for each day with no issue. It was the night of the second day since the twins had left and Gon was stretched out over the grass. Everyone was busy with their own thing. Though he had an extremely sturdy physique, two days of unending work, while working on The Depths and gaining more qi had tired even him out.

  “You want me to give you a massage?” Old Qiang stood over Gon and fshed his jade-like hands. A chill ran down Gon’s spine as he hurriedly got up.

  “I’m good.” He sighed. “Just let me have a good night’s rest and I’ll be all better.”

  “Your loss.” Old Qiang took a seat beside Gon and began to speak.

  “This pce has changed. You may not remember, but nights of peace like this were a fargone dream. The younguns would work from dawn till dusk, barely fulfilling their quota and left with tired bodies incapable of all else.”

  Gon listened quietly. This time, he raised his torso up, with a hand leaning on the grass for support.

  “Before you took charge, no one saw eye to eye. Bom was always an outcast for being a thief, being made fun of by others like Lil Hu. But now…” Old Qiang looked towards the pair. They were both practicing the Tradies Body Manual and encouraging each other.

  “Guam and Quma kept to themselves, yet now they interact with the rest and even listened to your request.”

  “Mujiang was a bit different. When he arrived he was an even bigger recluse then Quma. He did his work quietly and minded his own business. Now he’s always tinkering around with wood and crafting something or the other.” Old Qiang continued.

  “You’ve even made Persimmon open up a bit. Did you know he tried escaping a few times? He’d always be caught and beaten. Cold and aloof, that’s all we knew of him. Not willing to participate in anything. And now…” Old Qiang pointed towards Persimmon. He was wielding a wooden sword purchased from the nearby town and was practising a series of moves.

  “You ignited a fme within all their hearts and reminded them of their passions.”

  Facing Old Qiang, Gon couldn't help but scoff. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink. They all made their decision when their routine was broken. It’s the problem with a monotonous job like this. You become negligent of your soul.” Gon couldn’t help but have a sly smile. “So when are you going to break out of your routine, old man?”

  “Neglecting the soul… Those who tread on the dao… All life, cultivators and mortals must have the responsibility to tend to it. I see.” Old Qiang gazed at the dark abyssal eyes of Gon, the miner who had the hidden talent of being a natural born leader.

  Or perhaps it wasn’t talent, but a learned skill.

  “You don’t want to become a bundle of regrets when you die. These lessons are a benefit of facing death. That incident with the samanders reminded everyone well.” Gon couldn’t help but lift his left hand and shrug, thinking back to his own death.

  There was a moment of silence between Old Qiang and Gon. Old Qiang pondered for a moment, and asked him a question. “So Gon, how is life?”

  “Refreshing.” Gon blurted out the first word that came to his mind, paying it no heed.

  Old Qiang ughed.

  “Sappy old man.” Gon could only sigh helplessly. Old Qiang had noticed how the two days of triple work had affected Gon, so he came to check on him.

  “Well, that’s my cue to leave.” Old Qiang smiled, brushed the dust off his robes and got up.

  “Wait, old man. You haven’t told me what you did before coming here?” Gon couldn’t help but ask. Old Qiang was the oldest of the group and the wisest. He was the de facto leader before Gon had arrived, and Gon could tell he held a great deal of respect from everyone. If not for Old Qiang, Gon wouldn’t have reached his current success so quickly.

  “Or did you end up in a simir situation to myself?” Gon said, watching Old Qiang’s reaction.

  Gon had once belonged to the sect, though only for a bit.

  “Hoho, you and I are not so different.” Old Qiang gazed at the sky, towards the direction of the sect.

  “Me? I used to be a cultivator.”