[Below the ghost mine…

[The ghost aura was extremely dense, and the black mist that could be seen with the naked eye filled the entire mine.

[A 9th Layer Ghost Sage envoy led you and the other ghosts 160,000 meters underground.

“For the next 500 years, you’ll need to continuously mine here. After 500 years, you’ll be able to obtain the identity of a member of the Ghost race and obtain a good reward to survive in the ghost race,” said the ghost envoy to the ghosts below.

[Although not many had awakened their consciousness when they had reached the Netherworld, many ghosts had already recovered their memories after so many days. There were even a few who wanted to sneak out.

[However, the outcome could be imagined. They would either be directly killed by the ghost envoy or absorbed by the Ghost Stone and turned into nutrients.

“Don’t think about all that nonsense. Work hard, and there’s still a chance of survival. If you die here, it’s the end of the road for you. Don’t even think about reincarnating,” the ghost envoy said with a sinister smile.

[If you carefully observed every corner, you could know how fierce the competition in the Ghost race was from the ghost envoy’s description.

[A 9th Layer Ghost Sage was just considered a small ghost in a mine. Moreover, one had to spend 500 years mining in this mine day and night to get an official identity as a ghost.

[The Ghost Stone alone was extremely harmful to ghosts before it was mined. It could absorb the ghosts’ Ghost Qi, and once a ghost touched it, the stone could devour it.

[Just now, you saw a 2nd Layer Ghost Sage trying to escape when it accidentally touched a Ghost Stone and was sucked in it.

“All of you come up to collect your equipment. Remember, you can only use the ore to knock on the Ghost Stone. You mustn’t touch it. Only when the Ghost Stone drops can you pick it up. No matter who it is, you must hand in 20 of them monthly. There’s no reward if you complete it. If you can’t, you can feed yourselves to the Ghost Stone.”

[After saying this coldly, the ghost envoy left the area.

[All the ghosts were silent. No matter how invincible they were in their previous lives or how strong their background was, they had to start from scratch when they became part of the Ghost race without any foundation. If they didn’t complete the mission, they would die.

[Many ghosts were madly digging for the Ghost Stones as if their lives were on the line.

[However, many of the powerful ones had strange expressions on their faces. The ghost envoy hadn’t said that fighting wasn’t allowed here, let alone that they weren’t allowed to rob other ghosts’ Ghost Stones.

[Therefore, it was still beneficial to be a bit stronger here.

[In your sight, a few Ghost Sages quickly gathered together. The strongest existence was a 4th Layer Ghost Sage. Its body wasn’t human but that of a daemon. It had a tiger’s head and a human’s body. It did not seem to be easy to get along with.

[One of the Ghost Sages waved at you, obviously wanting you to join that group. You did not respond, took a pickax, and left the main group.

[You were very clear about their plans. You would not be like them, compromising in front of reality and peacefully mining here for 500 years.

[You would find a secluded corner, enter the mines, and mine the Ghost Stones.]

…

[On the 125th day, you worked for a full day and night. You endured as the Ghost Stones crazily absorbed your power. In the end, you still managed to collect two Ghost Stones.

[During this time, you also observed the progress of many mining ghosts. There were some who didn’t receive anything, but there were also some who managed to collect two or three Ghost Stones.

[The job of collecting Ghost Stones did not have much to do with the strength of one’s cultivation. Sometimes, it also depended on luck.

[Holding the Ghost Stone in your hand, you finally understood how much of a temptation this thing was to the Ghost race.

[It was filled with the energy that the ghosts needed. After simply absorbing it, you felt that the Ghost Qi that had been used up was instantly replenished, and even your cultivation level slightly increased.

[However, in the next moment, the Ghost Stone turned into ashes.

“It’s indeed very useful, but it’s a little difficult to obtain…”

[You discovered that absorbing the Ghost Stone was a way to quickly increase your cultivation level, especially since you had Endless Absorption talent, which was more than 100 times faster than normal ghosts absorbing the Ghost Stone.

[You also noticed that there were ghosts using the Ghost Stone to recover their power, but it was very difficult to absorb, and it took a long time to successfully extract a trace of it.

[Knowing where your advantage was, you became even more confident.

[After recovering your cultivation, you continued to mine without stopping, becoming a hardworking little miner.]

…

[On the 128th day, another three days passed. Because you never rested and worked day and night, you obtained a total of eight Ghost Stones. The size of the Ghost Stones varied. Some were the size of a fist, and some were only the size of a pinky finger.

[Since the size of the Ghost Stones was not clearly defined, you would save up the small ones and hand them to complete the mission. As for the big ones, you would naturally absorb and refine them to increase your cultivation.

[At this time, because you had absorbed two fist-sized Ghost Stones, your cultivation had reached the peak of the 3rd Layer of the Ghost Sage rank. You were not far from breaking through.

[At this moment, a 2nd Layer Ghost Sage found you. It was one of the Ghost Sages that had gathered together that day.

[They were now the overlords of this mining area. Because they were the strongest, they completely controlled the mining area after killing a few disobedient ghosts. They were all at the Sage rank, so they were naturally not fools.

[It was impossible to force the laborers to death, but they still had to give people hope. Therefore, their requirements were not high. Each person had to hand over a Ghost Stone every month. The collected Ghost Stones would not only be enough for them to complete their mission, but they could even use the extra ones to cultivate.

[This 2nd Layer Ghost Sage came here to ask for protection fees.

“Brother, you’d better pay me a Ghost Stone directly. Don’t make things difficult for me…” This 2nd Layer Ghost Sage wasn’t arrogant. After all, his strength was slightly weaker than yours. Even if he had a powerful force behind him, he didn’t want to offend you for no reason. It was all for the sake of living.

[You glanced at him and found that he was a human Ghost Sage. After thinking for a moment, it wasn’t good to have a conflict with those people now.

[You directly threw a finger-sized Ghost Stone to him. The 2nd Layer Ghost Sage was also very tactful. He took the stone and turned around to leave.]

…

[On the 131st day, you collected another nine Ghost Stones after three days. Among them, you accidentally mined a basketball-sized Ghost Stone. You were happy for quite a while.

[You suddenly had a whim and tried to see if you could break the Ghost Stone. Then, you realized that no matter how strong your power was, it would be absorbed by the Ghost Stone.

[You gave up on this idea and activated Endless Absorption, crazily absorbing the basketball-sized Ghost Stone.

[Ten minutes later, the basketball-sized Ghost Stone turned into dust. Your realm directly went from the 3rd Layer of the Ghost Sage rank to the 5th Layer of the Ghost Sage.

[The Ghost Stone contained much more energy than you thought.]