Chapter 7: The Prettier She Looks, The Deeper She Cuts

The group finally arrived at a spacious gathering square after traveling over ten miles from the 17th layer of Western Spirit Vein. This explains how wide the perimeter of this Immortal-Grade Mining Vein is covering.

In landmass alone, it could eclipse an entire dynasty and the land they covered in either of the Lesser Realms. Furthermore, this was merely an Immortal Grade Vein. It was said that the Empyreal Grade Vein was a hundredfold wider, and the Celestial one could occupy an entire continent.

Nobody greeted the group except the stalls and the miners who peddled their "goods" in the hope of exchanging them for a few good Contribution Points. And that wasn't all the gathering square had to offer.

People swarmed the square because of how cheap the treasure was sold there. As long one had a few noteworthy treasures that the others wanted and a cheap rag, they could start their shop on the spot.

Of course, the quality of these treasures won't reach a particular threshold.

About two-thirds of these goods belonged to the Below-Immortal Quality, with the remaining one-third in the Lower-Immortal Quality.

But these were enough for Jiang Sheng and the others, as they were more than enough to empty their pocket several times.

While for those who could afford them with a flick of their finger, the "goods" in the gathering square was merely an appetizer for them.

Like Jiang Sheng and almost everyone else, all the ascended that came here had the same starting point. Only a few were exceptions due to their special talents and unique characteristics. Otherwise, they all shared the same humble beginning of coming to this Lower Yuanning Realm empty-handed.

There were actually two reasons for them to come here empty-handed.

The first was because of the risk when facing the cumulonimbus cloud capable of destroying all world-defying treasures. And the second is because they wish to leave an inheritance to the younger generation.

With these two reasons clouding their judgment, these ascended naturally would only come here, bringing only the essential and dispensable treasures with them. Furthermore, crossing the cumulonimbus cloud itself would guarantee the destruction of treasures on them. Hence, it makes the intention of bringing more turns pointless.

In addition, the treasures that managed to follow them out of the Lesser Realm would, at most, be recognized as part of the Below-Immortal Quality because of the differences in Natural Law and Spiritual Energy.

This viewpoint fully explains why those treasures from the Lesser Realm might be insignificant.

Luckily, most people here were the dragon amongst the people and the pinnacle of existence in their world. They could be no different from unemployed now, but this doesn't mean that the skills they developed over the years were useless.

The only thing these people here lack is the opportunity to rise again from the bottom. The Contribution Point was simply one of the means for them to show their commitment in this harsh world.

"Oh my... I could literally stay at this place for months." said Yi Xuanming. As someone who loves socializing, his talent could shine in a place like this.

After all, the condition of delivering the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals is not necessary to be completed through his own two hands. As long that individual can produce the Qi Crystals needed daily, he's free to do whatever he likes in this Western Spirit Vein.

Hence, mining wasn't everything it was here. Instead, it was one thing that everyone can do here.

"Let you stay here for months? Then, who would gather the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals for you?" Mang She asked. As someone who transformed from a Spiritual Beast to a human, he was a little slow regarding something like this.

"Brother Mang, what Brother Yi says was merely an example. He's much better at socializing, so places like this are more suited to him than mining on the 17th layer." Jiang Sheng joined the conversation.

Pang Tong remained quiet as usual, while Hu Lingfei had already lost himself to all the treasures on the floor. If each of them were given a hundred Contribution Points to spend, this surname Hu would finish using them ten times faster than the rest.

"Where should we head first? The Contribution Pavilion or a walk around this gathering square?" Realizing that nobody seems to have a heading on where to go, Pang Tong spoke. His question made the other three members stare at Jiang Sheng.

"The Contribution Pavilion, of course!" Jiang Sheng answered the question with a smile on his face. "Without a single Contribution Point in our hand, what's the point of doing some window shopping?" he added.

Nodding at Jiang Sheng's words, the group of five made their way to the said building at a leisure pace.

The Contribution Pavilion might not be the tallest or grandest building on the block. Still, they're definitely one of the three busiest places in this Western Spirit Vein, followed by the Treasures Pavilion and Heaven Pavilion.

Obviously, the Contribution Pavilion is where the ascended delivers the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals and exchanges other goods for Contribution Points. As for the Treasures Pavilion, it should be where the Contribution Point can be used. Lastly, the Heaven Pavilion should be where matters requiring the High Heaven Sect's attention should be discussed and handled.

Upon entering the building, the group was greeted by a reception lobby with over ten thousand counters and a hundred thousand people waiting to deliver their daily harvest.

Almost all the counters were manned by a worker. And across these staffs were disgruntled, unhappy miners with an expression worse than someone who had been constipated for a month. It was a weird sight to behold.

"This is absolutely unfair! There are no written rules stating that we must repeatedly achieve the quota to earn the bonus Contribution Points! What you're doing right now is a daylight robbery!" complained one of the miners at the counter near Jiang Sheng and the group.

"The rule already stated that delivering Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal was a daily task. Our Contribution Pavilion is naturally not obliged to ensure you understand your job. Your task is to mine the crystals, and ours is to collect them, how difficult it is to understand?" the staff across the counter replied uninterestedly.

The worker appeared bored by these questions, which come at him at least a hundred to a thousand times daily.

"How can my quota increase so suddenly? I demand this decision to be rectified!" complained another miner at the next counter. His problem appears to be an unfair increment in his daily quota.

"Our Contribution Pavilion clearly stated how much Immortal Spirit Qi Crystals are needed daily. It is not our fault if you missed that announcement." the staff across the counter replied.

From a quick glance, almost all of these people here had an issue with the Contribution Pavilion and how their system works. They appeared to have no standardized system running properly, and a simple matter could easily have several versions of explanation given to the miners.

Only on delivering the Immortal Spirit Qi Crystal alone, Jiang Sheng and his group discovered six different solutions. Some had low requirements, while some demanded a ridiculous figure. Some of the workers received generous offers, but most of the others were below average.

"Shouldn't there be a proper system to run this place?" Jiang Sheng couldn't help but comment about how messy this pavilion operates.

"In that case, what suggestions you might have?" suddenly, a woman's voice whispered into Jiang Sheng's ears. The rest of his group members also heard the enchanting voice and searched for the owner of this voice.

"May I ask which expert this Jiang Sheng is talking to?" Jiang Sheng's tone immediately adopted a humble tone. In addition, he could feel a hint of frigid energy that came along with the voice.

If he wasn't mistaken, the owner of this voice should be an individual he is unqualified to mess with.

"The people here address me as Wu," replied the voice owner.

"Yi Xuanming greet Lady Wu," the scholar-like Yi Xuanming immediately used his social skills to obtain a favorable impression from this expert. Little did he know, it brought him a different result.

"How dare you call me a lady. Men, drag this boy out and smack his backside ten times," Wu said. There's not even a hint of hesitation in her words.

"HUH?" Yi Xuanmind almost couldn't believe what he heard. And before he could react, four guards emerged and dragged him outside. Painful cries followed a while later, along with ten loud noises originating from some wooden club.

What happened immediately caught them by surprise.

"Men, the other three are too ugly. They had ruined my appetite for eating this osmanthus cake. Drag them out and give them ten smacks as well." WU added.

Before anyone could say anything, Hu Lingfei, Pang Tong, and Mang She were taken out regardless of their protest, and cries followed.

"This..." Jiang Sheng was the only one left from the group.

"Expert Wu, this Jiang Sheng is new here and lacks knowledge of how things work inside this pavilion. I apologize if what we did before offended the great Expert Wu," Jiang Sheng immediately apologized to avoid getting into the same fate as the rest.

"There's no need for apologies. But I do have a question for you." said Wu.

"Do you think I am pretty?" she asked.

"I am sure that Expert Wu were a phoenix amongst all the birds flying in the sky." Jiang Sheng quickly replied.

"Good answer. Men, drag him out and give him ten smacks as well. I want you to remember that the prettier I look, the deeper I cut." said Wu.