According to the way things are said on Gavin Reed, the Nine Great Nations are the supreme existences of the mortal world, while the Nine Great Clans are the supreme existences of the cultivation world.

This also reflects the lofty attitude of cultivators, who transcend the mundane and pay no heed to worldly affairs.

During his first half year on Gavin Reed, due to being unfamiliar with the place and the stark contrast in environment, Evan Parker lived in extreme destitution, even coming close to losing his life several times.

It wasn’t until he caught the opportunity to be recruited as a miner by the Supreme Yuanyang Sect that Evan Parker found, for himself, a chance to live better on this cultivation planet.

Now, the place where Evan Parker resides is a stretch of mountains spanning several hundred miles, called the Huayun Mountain Range, which is one of the eighteen spirit stone mines owned by the Supreme Yuanyang Sect.

As exalted cultivators, they naturally have no reason to do the hard labor of mining spirit stones themselves, hence the existence of the miner profession. Of course, the candidates for miners are, naturally, the vast population of commoners.

Although mining spirit stones is both exhausting and dangerous, the generous rewards make many commoners flock to it eagerly.

Three years of work, a lifetime of ease.

This is the catchphrase often on the lips of the ten thousand miners here, and it is indeed true. The wealth accumulated from three years of work here is more than enough to live a prosperous life, even to become a small landlord is not difficult.

But these are not the reasons why Evan Parker came here...

“Mortal cultivation is so difficult... This miner’s life is my first step into the world of cultivation...”

Taking another sip of Bailing Brew, a determined light flashed in Evan Parker’s eyes as he muttered to himself.

Chapter Two: Sanyuan Fiery Flame

The next day, Evan Parker took the more than five thousand supply coins he had saved over the past half year, settled his rent, and headed straight for the trading area in the center of the market.

Wherever people gather, there are always merchants. In a place with over ten thousand miners, this is no exception. Many industries have sprung up as a result, and the miners’ trading area is the most distinctive feature here.

Here, you can exchange supply coins from the mining area for gold and silver, or use them to buy things you can’t get in the mortal world. Although these trinkets are considered worthless even by the lowest-level cultivators, for mortals, they are all wondrous items.

As a miner who has only toiled here for half a year, Evan Parker’s current assets are truly astonishing.

It must be mentioned that an ordinary low-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for ten units of supply coins. For an average miner, after ten days of mining, the yield is at most five to ten stones, which can be exchanged for only about a hundred supply coins at most.

Occasionally, a lucky person might dig up a low-grade spirit stone with a five-element attribute and make a windfall, but such luck is rare and unpredictable.

For Evan Parker, a newcomer who has been here less than half a year, to have accumulated five thousand supply coins in such a short time is nothing short of a miracle.

As for the real reason behind this “miracle,” it’s actually quite simple: Evan Parker fully utilized his skills as a master builder and tomb raider while mining, always able to find the most suitable spots and reap rich rewards with minimal effort—unlike other miners, who rely solely on brute strength and dig wherever they can.

If Evan Parker didn’t always mine alone, never working with anyone else, and if he weren’t so cautious when handing in his stones—never appearing at the same mine exit three times in a row—his “good luck” would have long since aroused suspicion.

You should know that although all ten thousand miners here are commoners, wherever there are people, there is power struggle, and even here, this holds true.

The more than fifteen thousand miners are roughly divided into three major factions, which are further split into over a dozen smaller groups. Here, killing for stones is commonplace.

Of course, these crimes all happen inside the mines, since the cultivators guarding this place are not people that mere miners with some brute strength can contend with.

Cultivators are mostly ruthless; as long as it’s outside their area of protection, who lives or dies has nothing to do with them. With a population of ten billion on Gavin Reed, there’s never a shortage of labor to mine spirit stones for them.

Arriving at the trading area, Evan Parker headed straight for the largest shop in the central area. The fruits of his half year’s labor were all for the sake of buying one item here—an item that would determine whether Evan Parker would rise or fall in the future.

The shop had two floors, covering an area of five hundred meters in diameter, lavishly decorated in gold and jade. It was the most luxurious and grand building in this mining district of ten thousand people.

After entering the shop, Evan Parker didn’t linger on the first floor, but went straight to the second. At the entrance to the second floor, a clerk stopped Evan Parker and said, “The second floor only sells cultivation items. Are you aware of that?”

Evan Parker didn’t say much, simply tossed the cloth bag full of supply coins at his waist in front of the clerk and said calmly, “I’m here to buy cultivation items...”

This shop is different from the other stores in the trading area; it was built by the Supreme Yuanyang Sect. The first floor sells nothing special, just a huge amount of gold and silver, while the second floor offers some low-level cultivation tools—various types, including talismans, magic artifacts, yin thunder, spirit pills, and even cultivation manuals, all in abundance.