Ye Xun looked at the thousands of powerful individuals below, all of whom were between the eighty-ninth and ninety-ninth heavenly layers, now submitting to Zhou Yan’s might.
"Are you planning to have them mine for you?" Ye Xun asked.
Zhou Yan shook his head. "Not to mine for me, but to atone for their sins."
"Atonement?" Ye Xun was startled, looking at Zhou Yan. It was indeed Zhou Yan who would say such an audacious thing.
Seeing Ye Xun's expression, Zhou Yan said indignantly, "What's with that look? Do I, Zhou Yan, look like someone who forces others?"
The miners below thought: *Isn't he?*
*Listen to that! Is that something a person would say?*
Ye Xun gave him a look that said "I don't believe a word you say" and asked, "Have you no shame?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan quickly turned to the miners below and asked, "Did I force you?"
The miners below immediately responded, "How could you? We are all willing!"
"Mining brings me joy and helps me rediscover the feeling of striving." <(￣﹌￣)>
"I am a sinner, and mining is my penance." (艹皿艹)
"Mining is the thing my Tu族 people love most in this life; I want to mine my entire life." (〃＞皿＜)
Zhou Yan was delighted to hear this and immediately said to the Tu族 person, "I will grant your wish." ︿(￣︶￣)︿
The Tu族 person immediately collapsed, trembling all over: (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
The Tu族 people thought: *What a sin!*
"They look like this, and you say you didn't force them?" Ye Xun asked.
Zhou Yan retorted with certainty, "Which one of them is human?"
The group of miners: (｡･vдv･｡)(｡•́︿•̀｡)｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)(′へ`、) Impact!!＿|￣|○e=(´o｀*))) Sigh
Ye Xun: "They..."
Ye Xun was about to speak, but when he saw the powerful individuals below, he opened his mouth and couldn't say anything.
This one is from the Yao族, that one is from the Mo族, this is from the Lang族, this is from the Shouren族, this is from the Niao族, this is from the Gu族 people...
Holy cow!
None of them were actually human!
Ye Xun decided he didn't want to argue with Zhou Yan anymore. He would always be the junior in any argument with him.
Only Zhou Yan could pull off the act of forcing powerful individuals into servitude. Ye Xun himself would never do something like this.
"Didn't we find some ore veins earlier? Since we discovered them, we can't let them go to waste. They are all a group of hardworking laborers, and I am helping them find the joy of work."
Zhou Yan said to Ye Xun with a righteous tone.
"Hahaha." Diao Chan and Zhen Mi burst into laughter. They usually didn't laugh like this, but they couldn't help themselves.
Zhou Yan released a wave of spiritual energy, using his powerful divine might to carve a large teleportation array. He then enveloped everyone, including the group of miners, within it.
This was the place they had arrived at before. Below ground lay a vast expanse of source ore. Zhou Yan confiscated all their storage equipment.
He called it helping them mine diligently and improve every day.
He then re-issued them with spatial rings, saying, "If the amount of source stones you mine does not meet the quota, I will make you experience the cycle of life and death."
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately nodded and erupted with enthusiastic working attitudes, shouting slogans: "Mine diligently, improve every day!"
"Mine diligently, improve every day!"
But in their hearts, they wished Zhou Yan would die immediately!
Zhou Yan also promised that any powerful individuals who performed well would be granted freedom.
As for what constituted good performance, Zhou Yan outlined a few points:
First: No fighting or causing trouble; actively resolve disputes among miners.
Second: Mine more source stones.
Third: Do not fear danger when encountered; risk your lives to press forward!
Fourth: Zhou Yan reserves the right to the final interpretation.
Afterward, Zhou Yan set up a massive formation. Within a hundred-kilometer radius, they were safe. Beyond this distance, their safety was not guaranteed.
They naturally understood what a safe distance meant and memorized the safe location.
Zhou Yan took out a pile of diamond-grade pickaxes and shovels, some of which were even at the level of sacred artifacts.
Zhou Yan said to them, "Everyone, work hard and strive for freedom as soon as possible."
They looked at these tools, and everyone was shocked, as these implements were even better than some of their own weapons.
*So professional?*
"Mine for freedom!"
The group of miners erupted with enthusiastic mining fervor. They were all powerful individuals with ample stamina and strength. Some even directly used powerful methods to shatter the ore veins and collect the source ore.
Zhou Yan was very pleased to see their enthusiasm. He then left contact information for the demon race expert, telling him to report any unresolved issues.
The demon race expert quickly nodded.
Zhou Yan and the others left, and he said to Ye Xun, "Let's continue exploring."
Ye Xun asked, "Are you really helping me find clues? I feel like you just came here to plot mining."
"I am a person of loyalty; of course, I am here to help you find clues. Mining is just a side task," Zhou Yan replied.
Ye Xun was speechless.
*A side task like this?*
*And you're "accidentally" here to mine dragon veins?*
*And you "accidentally" brought your two wives here for a visit?*
They continued their exploration. While searching, Zhou Yan noted down all the places with source ore, intending to have his mining team come here.
Zhou Yan felt that his mining team was still too small. Ordinary miners were too weak, and Zhou Yan had no interest in them.
Zhou Yan suddenly thought of a very suitable candidate.
"Ye Xun, why don't we go to the core area of the Ten Thousand Dragon Cave? Perhaps you crawled out from among those piles of dead people," Zhou Yan suggested.
Ye Xun heard this, looked at Zhou Yan, and asked, "Didn't you cut me out of a stone? How could I have crawled out from there?"
"I meant, could it be that you were brought out from the core of the Ten Thousand Dragon Cave by someone and then abandoned somewhere?" Zhou Yan clarified.
Ye Xun looked at Zhou Yan carefully and asked, "I think you have a scheme, but I can't figure out what it is."
"Who would I scheme against if not you? I am the best to my friends and the most loyal," Zhou Yan replied.
Zhou Yan was indeed quite loyal, but he also often tricked people.
However, loyalty is not something you proclaim for yourself; it should be said by others to make you seem reliable.
"Alright, let's go," Ye Xun said.
"Don't be in such a hurry. There's still a large area here that hasn't been explored. Perhaps you have memories of this place," Zhou Yan said.
"You still want to find some large source ore veins, don't you?" Ye Xun voiced Zhou Yan's true intention.
"Nonsense, I am completely here to find your heart's lock. Finding source ore is just a side task, a side task." Zhou Yan replied.
"I don't believe you!"
"Husband, there's a ghost ahead."
Ye Xun: o(ﾟДﾟ)っ!
Zhou Yan: (((ﾟДﾟ)))