Immortal Starry Sky-Chapter 133 - 129: Struggle

This is a desolate planet, with jagged rocks and pitted terrain. Looking around, there’s nothing but desert, no trees or flowers, no clear streams, but buried here is an enormous treasure, a staggering number of star ore veins.

To find this treasure, countless cosmic martial artists have come, hoping to claim a portion.

But unfortunately, this place has long been known to the Domain Master of the true Purple Vein Star Domain, who sent cosmic warriors to occupy it. Even if the cosmic martial artists were envious, they dare not provoke the Domain Master.

Though wealth is important, one’s own life is more so.

However, the Domain Master did give each cosmic martial artist a chance: everyone can mine in the star ore veins for a year, and only need to give 60% of the ores to the Purple Vein Star Domain.

This news caused countless cosmic martial artists to flock here, and thus the Purple Vein Star Domain prospered.

But when the Purple Vein Star Domain truly became a large star domain, the Domain Master changed the rules: 95% of the obtained ores must be turned over to the Purple Vein Star Domain.

In this way, all the cosmic martial artists angrily withdrew; what difference is there between 95% and giving it all away?

Without the cosmic martial artists, many true star ore veins were left unmined. If relying solely on labor, who knows when the star ancient ores would be fully excavated.

Therefore, to enhance efficiency, the Domain Master issued another decree: all outsiders wishing to enter Star City must either choose to mine on the star ore veins for a year or hand over ten Flame Cold Stones, otherwise entry is prohibited.

Following this, apart from Star City, the rest of the stars in the Purple Vein Star Domain are strictly prohibited from selling ores externally. Upon discovery, the violators will be executed without mercy.

Such methods forced outsiders into becoming free laborers in a disguised manner.

Of course, those unwilling to stay in the star ancient ore for a year, painstakingly mining a pile of precious ores only to have them all confiscated by the people of the Purple Vein Star Domain, can choose to hand over three Bright Demon Stones directly as a price for early departure.

Wang Xu is one of those most unwilling to stay here.

But to obtain ten Flame Cold Stones, he had no choice but to enter here, being exploited by the Purple Vein Star Domain.

...

"So many cosmic martial artists." Wang Xu flew for a long time, passing by many mining areas along the way. Various ancient star ores were scattered everywhere, but whenever Wang Xu flew over a place, there would immediately be a group of void-level cosmic martial artists watching him vigilantly, tightly gripping their war soldiers, fearing that Wang Xu would seize their ancient ore.

Clearly, although this is just a star ancient ore vein, the level of danger is not inferior to that of a border battlefield.

In a border battlefield, at least one would have compatriots from the same camp fighting together, able to trust each other directly.

But here, everyone harbors suspicion. Even the closest people must guard against each other heavily, or else one day, they might get stabbed in the back, and the ores painstakingly accumulated over time would be snapped up by scoundrels.

Such occurrences are common here, and powerful void-level cosmic martial artists even form teams, specifically to rob and plunder others, all to make that 5% they take away more substantial.

It seems like every cosmic martial artist’s time is long, enough to dig up many ancient star ores, but an ordinary cosmic martial artist can typically only obtain two or three Flame Cold Stones or other star ore minerals per day.

Over a year, an ordinary cosmic martial artist would obtain seven to eight hundred Flame Cold Stones, but after handing over 95%, they can only keep thirty-five to forty Flame Cold Stones.

And this is only if the cosmic martial artist is relatively lucky.

How can such a tiny harvest satisfy greedy cosmic martial artists?

Therefore, some began harboring evil thoughts, using their powerful strength to seize others’ ancient star ore. This way, they don’t have to toil as laborers, and they can easily acquire star ore. Why not?

Over time, more and more cosmic martial artists began raiding each other. Slaughter became inevitable, and hatred surged rapidly. This star ore vein is like a cage for a fight to the death, and once trapped inside, survival must be fought for.

Everyone is an enemy, and there is only interest between them, no trust.

Wang Xu had no worries about this. With his strength, even a black hole level character would have to think twice.

"Huh?" Suddenly, Wang Xu’s eyes lit up. He found an unoccupied ore vein, which was rich in Flame Cold Stones.

"Not bad luck!" Wang Xu was in high spirits, immediately landing on the ground, entering the mine cave, and wielding his mechanical shovel.

Needless to say, these ancient star ores, after tens of thousands of years, have become extremely hard. If one were to use a war soldier for excavation, it might take some effort, but a mechanical shovel can emit intense vibrations, making the ores easier to dislodge, better suited for mining.

...

In just a moment, Wang Xu had collected four Flame Cold Stones.

"How come the Flame Cold Stone vein, when truly formed, only has this little?" Wang Xu wondered.

He didn’t know that a Flame Cold Stone vein is millions of kilometers in size, and contains only tens of thousands of Flame Cold Stones. To obtain one, doesn’t one need to dig hundreds of meters deep?

Moreover, this is a vein, not ordinary rock. Large-scale destruction cannot be used, or the ores would be destroyed along with it.

Excavation is not as easy as imagined. Often, after half a day’s hard work, all that’s left is a pile of useless waste rock.

Four Flame Cold Stones seemed to have exhausted Wang Xu’s luck. After digging for two or three hours straight, all he got was a pile of rubble, without a single Flame Cold Stone.

"Who are you?" Suddenly, a cold voice rang in Wang Xu’s ear.

Wang Xu was startled, he was focused on the Flame Cold Stone Vein and had completely failed to notice someone approaching.

Immediately, the White Jade Long Saber was in his hand, and Wang Xu turned around.

A plainly dressed man in black.

The man in black had long, flowing hair, his appearance identical to that of a human, holding a longsword gleaming with cold light. He leaned against the entrance of the mine, his eyes casually surveying Wang Xu.

Wang Xu frowned, "You don’t need to know who I am, but I found this vein first. There should be a first-come, first-served basis."

The man in black was of the Upper Void level, and Wang Xu felt no pressure dealing with him, but he wasn’t a villain who would kill for a few minerals.

The man in black, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but curl his lips: "You discovered it first?"

"There was no one when I entered, this is unclaimed land, so naturally I discovered it first," Wang Xu said.

The man in black chuckled lightly, "Fine, since you like it here, I’ll let you have it." Saying this, he turned away.

"Take care of yourself."

Then, the figure of the man in black suddenly dissipated like smoke, making Wang Xu slightly moved. Although the man in black’s strength was at the Upper Void level, he was much faster in body technique than Wang Xu.

The man in black left, and the mine returned to silence. Wang Xu wasted no time, swung the mechanical shovel again, and began mining.

Some tens of kilometers away, on a pile of scattered rocks, the man in black lay leisurely, a hint of a playful smile always on his lips.

"The new kid really isn’t afraid of death; I’m curious to see how long you can hold that mine."

...

Soon, a day and night passed like this.

Wang Xu, tirelessly digging, had only obtained thirteen pieces of Flame Cold Stone after such a long time, just barely starting toward his goal.

This was a tedious, repetitive, and extremely dull job that didn’t differentiate between day and night, rain or shine, requiring only constant mechanical digging with the shovel.

The only sound left in his ears was the shovel striking the ore, and the patter of falling stone debris, nothing else.

But in the eyes of other cosmic martial artists, this was the tranquility before harvesting treasures. Once minerals appeared, they would dance with joy, excited, and continue to dig with renewed motivation.

For Wang Xu, however, mining was simply wearing down his will, because his expectations were too high, thinking he could harvest hundreds of Flame Cold Stones a day and leave this place in two days. But reality was disappointing, making Wang Xu feel that mining was too torturous, as painful as cultivating Formless Giant Power.

"Hmm? Someone’s coming." Suddenly, Wang Xu’s spirit was jolted. Since the man in black left yesterday, Wang Xu had been alert to external movements, periodically releasing his spiritual consciousness to observe outside, to prevent a sudden intrusion like before.

This time, the moment a dozen Upper Void level cosmic martial artists arrived, Wang Xu was already aware.

"Fu Yu, come out for me!" A rough shout rang outside the mine.

"Fu Yu?" Wang Xu was puzzled, but still walked out of the mine, frowned, and asked, "Who are you?"

"Hmm? Who are you? Where’s Fu Yu? Get him out here, today I’ll take back this Flame Cold Stone Vein no matter what!" The speaker was a tall cosmic martial artist whose head resembled that of a crocodile.

"I don’t know who Fu Yu is, but this Flame Cold Stone Vein is mine. No one will take it from me," Wang Xu said coldly.

He vaguely guessed that the Fu Yu mentioned by the crocodile-headed person should be the man in black from yesterday.

But, regardless, the other party was coming for the Flame Cold Stone Vein, and Wang Xu would not back down.

"You? An Upper Void level?" The crocodile-headed person sneered, "Human race, open your eyes and look, we’re all Upper Void level here, killing you is as easy as crushing an ant. Hurry up and call out Fu Yu for me, I don’t have that much patience!"

"Is that so? But from my perspective, you all look more like ants," Wang Xu sneered.

The crocodile-headed person’s face sank: "You’re courting death."

...

"Little guy, my Fu Yu’s vein isn’t something anyone can claim."

Meanwhile, on a distant boulder, the man in black gazed in this direction, a smile on his lips.

"Forget it, for the sake of us both being of the human race, I’ll forgive you this once." With that, Fu Yu stood up, prepared to go and help Wang Xu.

However, he paused, his eyes narrowing.

Whoosh!

In the distance, a large figure shot out like a cannonball, spanning hundreds of meters, and crashed directly into a pile of rubble, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

This figure was precisely the crocodile-headed person who had just been shouting!