Eternal Life Begins with Learning

Chu Mu stared blankly, but just then, an indescribable sound faintly echoed from within the mine shaft.

The sound grew louder and louder, like a howling gale or the roar of a fierce beast—deep and oppressive.

Faced with this strange development, the Inspectors and men conscripted for Forced Labor were clearly at a loss.

Many of the laborers even dropped their tools, ready to bolt!

"Keep digging! Anyone who retreats dies!"

Li Jinghong shouted, beheading a retreating laborer with a single slash of his saber.

Immediately, a flurry of commands rang out. The surrounding Inspectors surged forward, unsheathing their Long Sabers. The gleaming blades pointed directly at the hundreds of men in Forced Labor before them.

Seeing this, Chu Mu also drew his saber and moved forward. Fortunately, there were a few hundred Inspectors. With five or six hundred laborers in front of them, his position at the very back put him a safe distance from the mine shaft.

After using his Spiritual Radiance to probe the area for a moment and not detecting that indescribable chill, Chu Mu couldn’t help but relax.

There were five or six hundred laborers, all in rags and armed with nothing but simple tools. In contrast, the authorities had urgently dispatched nearly two hundred Inspectors, and another hundred or so had arrived escorting the laborers.

"Get digging!"

"Anyone who dares retreat will share his fate!"

Li Jinghong’s face was grim. As he roared his commands, he seemed to glance inadvertently at the man in white, as if afraid this disturbance would displease him.

Faced with more than three hundred fully armed Inspectors and the threat of their gleaming blades, the laborers’ choice was painfully clear.

One by one, the laborers stepped back into the mine shaft, which was only a meter or two deep. The CLANG, CLANG, CLANG of digging tools striking rock rang out once more.

"What on earth is that sound?"

Chu Mu wondered. He doubted there was a single Inspector or laborer present who wasn’t wondering the same thing.

Chu Mu watched the laborers dig. Although many of the hundreds of men were just huddled together in confusion, the sheer manpower meant the mine shaft was visibly widening.

And as the mine shaft expanded, that terrifying howl only grew more shrill.

’Don’t tell me there’s really some kind of Demon Fiend in there!’

Chu Mu’s heart pounded in his chest. He scanned his surroundings, already looking for a way out.

BOOM!

But just then, a sudden, muffled boom, like a heavy mallet striking a great drum, slammed into the hearts of every Inspector and laborer present.

Before anyone could react, the roar was accompanied by a spray of shattered rock and a cloud of dust. The dozens of laborers at the forefront were instantly torn to shreds by the flying shrapnel.

The dust was stained red with blood, and the carnage instantly painted the small mine shaft crimson.

"Aaaah..."

"Run!"

"Get out of the way! Get the hell out of my way!"

A moment of stunned silence was shattered by an overwhelming lust for life and terror of death. The laborers scrambled frantically to escape. The Inspectors were thrown into disarray. Some who kept their wits tried desperately to hold the line, while others, terrified out of their minds, simply turned and fled!

Li Jinghong was shouting himself hoarse, trying to regain control, but the man in white stood to the side, his expression completely unruffled.

It was as if the bloody chaos unfolding before him didn’t even exist.

His gaze, however, was fixed on the bloody pit from which the roar had come. His impassive eyes now seemed to hold a flicker of delight.

Chu Mu didn’t retreat. It wasn’t out of a desire to hold his post, of course. His position at the very back, with hundreds of Inspectors ahead of him, meant the chaos wouldn’t reach him for a while. If he really needed to run, he could do so at any moment.

For now, he kept his eyes glued to the dust-choked mine shaft, trying to discern what was happening.

But unfortunately, with dust billowing everywhere, it was impossible to see anything clearly until it settled.

BOOM!

Right before his eyes, another boom echoed. Once again, rock shrapnel flew, trailing gore, and the cloud of dust expanded violently.

But the scene that followed made Chu Mu’s pupils constrict. Without a shred of hesitation, he grabbed Xu Yuan, spun around, and ran for his life.

Xu Yuan’s reflexes were lightning-fast. Though he didn’t know why, the moment he saw Chu Mu take off, he didn’t hesitate for a second, simply tucking his head down and sprinting after him.

Chu Mu was already running fast, but to go even faster, he didn’t hesitate to activate his "Spiritual Radiance Blessing"!

’Faster, even faster!’

Veins bulged on his forehead as Chu Mu fled for his life.

He didn’t know how far he ran. Only when the commotion behind him died down slightly did Chu Mu spare enough energy to glance back.

His pace slowed to a halt.

"Brother Mu... Brother Mu, what is it? What happened?"

Xu Yuan gasped for breath, also coming to a stop.

Chu Mu didn’t react at all, just stared blankly at the dust-shrouded mine pit.

Confused, Xu Yuan followed Chu Mu’s gaze. His questioning expression instantly turned to shock, then morphed into pure terror. His face went white, and his limbs began to tremble uncontrollably.

Ice sculptures.

The concept wasn’t unfamiliar to Chu Mu.

Even if he hadn’t personally witnessed such things, in the information age he came from, he’d certainly seen his share of them on screens.

But now, right before his eyes, under the blazing sun, hundreds of ice sculptures stood within the mine pit.

They were frighteningly lifelike, capturing terrified faces and desperate postures of escape.

Sculptures like these were far beyond the scope of human artistry.

After all, just a few moments ago—perhaps no more than a dozen seconds—these "sculptures" had all been living, breathing people.

The five or six hundred laborers, the several hundred Inspectors... now, their statuses made no difference. Aside from a few dozen Inspectors on the periphery who had been fast enough to escape, the man in white wreathed in golden light, and Li Jinghong, who was being sheltered by him...

...everyone else had been turned into an ice sculpture.

No...

’It’s not just that they’re ice sculptures!’

Chu Mu’s pupils constricted. As he scrutinized the sculptures one by one, an even more horrifying fact became apparent.

In the space of just a few breaths, the bodies trapped within the ice had all withered.

It was as if something had drained the very essence from their bodies.

They resembled mummified corpses, yet were fuller and less shriveled.

It was like... At that moment, Chu Mu found he didn’t even have the words to describe it.

Looking past the dense forest of ice sculptures, the mine shaft, now clear of dust, was visible once more.

The two explosions had completely blasted away the rock wall. There was no Demon Fiend or monster like Chu Mu had imagined. There was only a wall of blackness.

It looked like a coal deposit, with a layered Ore Vein. Black was the dominant color, but faint, blood-red veins seemed to be mixed within it.

"An Ore Vein?"

Confused, Chu Mu instinctively glanced toward the man in white, who was still shimmering with golden light.

Li Jinghong was clearly shaken; obviously, he hadn’t anticipated this outcome either.

But it was just as obvious that, in the presence of the man in white, Li Jinghong didn’t dare utter a single complaint.

Not even when this vast field of ice sculptures represented the loss of hundreds of lives.

Not even when nearly half of those lives belonged to the Inspectors under his own command.

...