Chapter 5: Simplifying the High Heaven Immortal Foundation Art

Jiang Sheng smirked at his claim. But he did not run his mouth and rebuke or share this point with those it may concern.

After all, every man is on themselves in this hell of a place.

Furthermore, for a person with a lower status like himself, it would be pointless to have the matter of the High Heaven Sect's decision to provide them with an imperfect Immortal Foundation Technique brought up.

Possibly, such an action would also endanger him instead in this world where dogs eat dogs and humans on one another.

That was the rule for a world where others were simply an offering in your path to reach the apex of cultivation. Even a fool would know one's outcome for questioning what the High Heaven Sect is doing.

With his mind at its peak, Jiang Sheng, through his expertise as the Technique Ancestor from where he originated, quickly came up with an alternative solution to the flawed Immortal Foundation Technique.

But to the current him, who lacked in both theory and knowledge, being capable of repairing this flawed technique is already considered quite an amazing feat. This was because Jiang Sheng still lacked the understanding of how cultivation techniques and utilization of Spiritual Qi worked in this Lower Realm.

That's also why even if someone among them noticed the flaw, they'd still cultivate this Immortal Foundation Technique without question. And that's because they had no other choice.

With their current condition, where their survivability is not assured, staying alive until they're either released or escaped was their only hope. And even if the Immortal Foundation Technique was further flawed, they'd still make the same choice.

Jiang Sheng's proficiency might be limited to a certain degree, but repairing the first part of the Immortal Foundation Technique is still possible. And even if it was slightly repaired, the overall cultivation process was still identical.

Hence, nobody brought anything up about Jiang Sheng when he meditated on the spot.

Several people passed by noticed a slight difference, but since everyone here had their own compatibility with the Immortal Foundation Technique, the slight irregularity only caught their curiosity for a few seconds before they left. 

After all, these people focused on mining as many Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals as possible to achieve their daily quota.

The newcomers might be clueless for now, but they'll eventually know the importance of achieving their daily quota. 

At the end of the day, regardless of their performance, these miners would be rewarded with a single High Heaven Sect Contribution Point for each Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal they handed to the Contribution Pavilion.

Naturally, the more they deliver, the more Contribution Points they'll get. In addition, achieving the quota means they'll get twice the points than usual, which made them come up with different ideas to make that happen.

This means ganging up on someone else, robbing fellow miners, and grouping together to share the points were all allowed. The only consequences would be their safety and benefit, as the human heart is hard to guess.

One could be your best pal at this second, but also the same person who stabbed you at the back of your heart the next moment.

Since everyone here was already halfway into the Immortal Stage cultivation, menial mortal necessities like food, drink, and sleep no longer troubled them. As long they could harness the Spiritual Qi in the surroundings, it would nourish their physique gradually.

This means even the laziest immortal could have a rank up once a thousand years, regardless of whether he wants it or not.

That being said, food and other menial necessities were not what the Contribution Point was for. Instead, it was to be used in exchange for better mining tools, cultivation techniques, and Immortal Grade resources.

Underneath the watchful eyes of the curious supervisors on duty in this 17th layer, these newcomers gradually came to a mutual understanding that practicing the High Heaven Immortal Foundation Technique was a must before anything else.

As for those who chose the wrong treasure to take from their Devil's Mark storage space, they could only start practicing an hour or two later than the rest of the newcomers.

"What's your opinion towards the new batch of miners this time?"  one expert asked. He was seated atop a hidden spot overlooking the whole 17th layer of the Western Spirit Vein. There were also several others, all with unfathomable cultivation, loitering around.

"Of the hundred people, only six of them caught my attention. But unfortunately, all of them failed to meet my expectations," another expert responded from the stone pillar ten meters away.

"It's only their first day. Let us give them two to three more days. Even if they failed, taking them in as our junior disciples' martial attendants would be fine." the third expert responded. This expert rested on top where Jiang Sheng was, and he had personally witnessed what the newcomer had been doing the whole time.

He was puzzled and curious about Jiang Sheng's peculiar attitude when reading the High Heaven Immortal Foundation Technique repeatedly. It also appears to him that the latter had nothing special on him, but at the same time, this newcomer gave him a feeling that Jiang Sheng was different from the rest.

The noteworthy part is that Jiang Sheng was not one of the six people who caught these expert's attention. He was simply the seventh, a slight addition by the third expert. Because of Jiang Sheng's unique temperament causes these experts to overlook his existence, thus casting him aside like an unattractive good.

By being not that eye-catching to these experts, Jiang Sheng had a more peaceful opportunity than the rest to practice the High Heaven Immortal Foundation Technique. Because the modification he did on the technique was only on the surface level, the slight differences failed to catch any of the few expert's attention.

Several hours later, the earliest batch of newcomers that choose the manual first is now ready to attempt their hand at mining.

With the assistance of the Immortal Foundation Technique, amassing the Spirit Qi into their body was several times faster than before. But that was all to these newcomers.

After all, they only had several hours to practice the Immortal Foundation Technique. Already capable of putting them into use signifies that these people's talent in cultivation was a level above the rest.

This includes Jiang Sheng, who joined the others to test their luck.

The spacious 17th layer means even if everyone picked a spot to monopolize, there would still be plenty of places for more people to choose from.

Since there's nothing worth paying attention to, these experts gradually pulled their attention away from the newcomers. While these people were still oblivious to the experts watching nearby, all their attention was on how swiftly they could separate the earth from the wall to reveal the beautiful, attractive grey crystal.

A few luckier ones quickly found their first in half an hour, but that luck only came once.

Meanwhile, Jiang Sheng's progress had been going on steadily without creating too much of a commotion to the people nearby. To avoid getting targeted by the people who came earlier than they did, Jiang Sheng ensured that he kept all the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal inside his Devil's Mark before he looked for the next one.

Before they noticed, three whole days had passed.

Over these few days, Jiang Sheng had gotten close to several newcomers with a similar temperament. They were all people who only minded their own matters and shared important information when necessary.

Through word of mouth, robbing other miners' Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals was common here. But they weren't told further how or what you can do to prevent these from happening.

This means they could only rely on themselves in case the group were approached by these types of people. As Jiang Sheng and the group were coming close to the Contribution Pavilion, they were stopped by a group of trio, each with a pickaxe around their shoulder.

"I might not be the one that paves the road and light the lamp here, but I am the one that checks this road. Since there are five of you here, leave five Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals as your passing fee, and you be allow to pass without trouble!"