The Immortal Slaughter Palace controlled Anlu Star. This planet's teleportation array activated only during the monthly astral stone transport.
Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu had no hope of leaving Anlu Star by strength alone. If brute force failed, they would rely on cunning.
Liu Wuxie knew that without resources, he couldn't reach the Transcendent Realm even in a few years. He didn't worry about cultivation methods or martial techniques—he had plenty stored in his mind. But time pressed him. He needed to find the Heavenly Dragon Sect as soon as possible.
The True Martial Continent could last another ten years at most. He couldn't afford to wait. If he failed to establish the Astral Domain Path by then, everyone he loved would perish.
"Senior, tell me. How can we leave Anlu Star?" Liu Wuxie asked, eyes gleaming with hope. As long as a sliver of chance existed, he would give it everything.
He Yingwu scanned the surroundings and lowered his voice once he confirmed that everyone had fallen asleep.
Without the ability to extend their divine sense, they had to speak aloud.
"First, we could try bribing the guards to smuggle us out," he whispered, "But we're nobodies, so that's unlikely to work."
Some slaves managed to bribe guards to hide in stone carts during monthly shipments. Some succeeded, but the price to pay was steep.
Many slaves were once powerful cultivators whom others had betrayed and sold as slaves. Occasionally, they could sway a guard by revealing their identity. Neither Liu Wuxie nor He Yingwu possessed fame or treasure, so this method seemed impossible for both of them.
"What's the second option?" Liu Wuxie asked, discarding the risky plan.
Approaching a guard risked exposure or even execution. Without absolute certainty, he refused to consider it.
"Anlu Star lies near the edge of the Astral Domain. Astral beasts attack once a year. During the chaos, we may have a chance," He Yingwu said quietly.
"But without a teleportation array, how do we leave?" Liu Wuxie asked.
Even if they managed to escape, others would eventually capture and punish them due to the vast distance between planets. Some slaves used the chaos to escape, but most died or were recaptured and executed as a warning to others.
"If we can subdue an astral beast, we can ride it out," He Yingwu said.
His tone betrayed how difficult that feat would be. Their odds of success were slim.
Liu Wuxie's eyes lit up. Taming an astral beast could work.
Astral beasts possessed massive bodies and traveled freely between planets. They were unafraid of astral winds and could navigate freely without relying on a teleportation array.
However, their vicious nature had caused many cultivators to fail in taming them.
"Senior, when's the next astral beast horde?" Liu Wuxie asked.
Astral stones filled Anlu Star, drawing astral beasts year-round. Astral stones contained energy that both humans and astral beasts refined.
"About a month from now," He Yingwu replied after a quick mental calculation.
"Good." Liu Wuxie's eyes sparkled with determination.
With the will of an immortal emperor and faith energy, he could succeed, even though others had failed.
"Don't celebrate yet. Let's survive this month first," He Yingwu said. He nudged his lips toward Chen Gang's group.
Chen Gang had begun plotting.
"If Chen Gang stays out of my way, I'll ignore him. If not, he'll wish he was never born," Liu Wuxie growled, his eyes gleaming with cold ferocity. Anyone who stood in his way would become his enemy.
Night deepened, and they needed rest.
Liu Wuxie drew a thread of liquified spiritual energy from the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron and injected it into He Yingwu's body to help heal his injuries.
Decades of hardship had inflicted hidden damage on He Yingwu. Without treatment, his foundation might collapse.
The spiritual energy nourished him, rapidly healing his wounds and deepening his respect for Liu Wuxie.
None of the slaves had interspatial rings; no astral stones, no pills.
Most slaves died not from combat but because no one treated their wounds.
Dawn came quickly. The iron door creaked open. Everyone shuffled out.
Liu Wuxie and He Yingwu walked toward the mines. Not long after, Chen Gang's group emerged.
"Are you ready?" Chen Gang asked.
"All set," several men behind him replied with sinister grins.
Chen Gang glanced over his shoulder and growled, "Go and make sure that they don't return alive."
His men vanished into the mine without a word.
Moments later, a grim-faced guard stepped out from behind him.
"Officer Zhang, this is for you," Chen Gang said, lowering his voice as he looked around cautiously. He reached into his robe and handed over a palm-sized raw stone.
Most raw stones came in large and cumbersome sizes, making them difficult to conceal. This one, small and rare, was ideal for bribery. Chen Gang had recently managed to acquire it.
Corruption infested the mines. Low-ranking guards skimmed scraps, while powerful ones took bulk shares. As long as they met the quotas, the higher-ups ignored them.
Only trusted insiders could manage mines, which offered lucrative benefits.
"Don't slip up. We'll be finished if the commander finds out," the guard issued the warning, then walked off with a satisfied smirk.
Chen Gang remained above ground, continuing his supervision over the rest of the slaves.
Torches flickered deep within the tunnels, and the torches cast jagged shadows across the damp walls.
"This is strange. Where's Old He and Old Wang?" He Yingwu frowned as he scanned the empty mine.
"Someone lured them away," Liu Wuxie replied coldly, a smirk tugging at his lips as he followed behind.
"Lured away?" He Yingwu halted. The air felt heavier than usual, thick with silence. Even the usual pickaxe clinks had vanished into silence.
In addition to the damp environment, the place felt suffocating.
"We'll know soon enough," Liu Wuxie muttered. Though divine sense couldn't reach beyond his body, his Ghost Eye allowed him to see several dozen meters ahead.
"Chen Gang," He Yingwu spat the name with certainty. Years of experience left no doubt as to who orchestrated this ambush.
They stopped as metallic clangs echoed ahead.
The overseers prohibited slaves from carrying weapons, allowing only mining picks.
Suddenly, more than a dozen figures emerged, surrounding them from both front and back. Each one of them wielded an iron rod.
One man among the group radiated the aura of a high-level Heaven Profound Realm cultivator. He tapped his rod against the walls, sending out the metallic signal.
Liu Wuxie kept the Heretic Blade hidden in his desolate world, but he had no intention of summoning it. Revealing it would lead to severe consequences.
"Scar-Face Liu, it's you!" He Yingwu recognized the burly figure with the long scar slashing down his cheek. The slaves called him Scar-Face Liu, a name spoken with both fear and disdain.
The group closed in like a pack of jackals. The clangs ceased, and silence took over.
"Someone wants your legs," Scar-Face Liu sneered. "Will you kneel and make it easy, or do we have to pin you down?"
Everyone knew his brutal reputation. Even Chen Gang treated him with caution and respect.
He blatantly claimed that someone wanted He Yingwu's legs.
"What did Chen Gang give you to do his dirty work?" He Yingwu asked, his muscles tensing in preparation.
If someone broke their legs, others would deem them worthless and toss them into the wilderness, where astral beasts roamed and devoured abandoned slaves.
Small astral beasts roamed Anlu Star freely, and many slaves ended up as their prey every year.
"You're not worthy to know," Scar-Face Liu snarled. "Kneel within three breaths, or we'll break your hands, too."
They didn't have time to waste. The overseers still expected them to continue mining.
"Wuxie, run. I'll hold them off," He Yingwu said, voice calm but resolute. He braced himself and resolved to make the sacrifice.
Had they been armed, they could have stood a chance. However, the enemies had likely smuggled in those iron rods with help from the bribed guard, which meant that they had no chance of victory.
Bribery and ambushes were common in these mines. It was a brutal world.
Liu Wuxie's eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
"You're all courting death," he growled. If Chen Gang wanted war, he would give it to him. There was no longer any reason for Chen Gang to exist in this world.
"Fuck! Everyone, attack! Cripple them both!" shouted a youth at the front. He had taken a punch from Liu Wuxie the day before and sought revenge.
He charged first, iron rod raised high.