Lu Li, along with the others, was forced off the ship under the threat of those spirit whips, no matter how unwilling he was, and arrived at the deserted island where the houses looked like they had been built very casually.

Besides them, there were many other people living here. These people were dressed in shabby clothes, had unshaven beards, and their bodies and faces were covered in dirt.

Most importantly, most people's eyes are filled with a deathly stillness, as if life has worn away all their light and hope, and they are just living numbly.

Lu Li, who was very observant, also noticed that these people had thick calluses on their index fingers and thumbs, which were clearly marks left by long-term work.

This discovery instantly made Lu Li realize that these people had captured them, and if nothing unexpected happened, they were probably meant to make them do things.

Moreover, what they are doing is very likely to make them mine.

After all, many rare mineral veins cannot be mined using spiritual power; they can only be mined using the body's most primal strength.

As it turned out, Lu Li's guess was correct.

The next morning, each of the newcomers was given a specially made jade hoe and a storage bag that could be opened without using spiritual power.

He was driven along with that group of numb people to the other side of the dock, boarded a spirit ship, and sailed towards the vast sea.

Shushu and Luli also paid special attention and discovered that there was a drop of strange water around their ship, which followed them the whole time, patrolling and monitoring everyone on board.

Soon, the ship arrived at a calm sea. It is unclear what the person in charge of steering did, but a whirlpool and indistinct array patterns appeared on the surface of the sea shortly afterward.

Without any hesitation, the ship plunged into the whirlpool.

Shushu was fine inside the space, but Lu Li himself, on the ship, only felt a wave of dizziness and his five senses went blank for a moment.

When things returned to normal, they had arrived in another sea area.

Clearly, the vortex was an array, and it contained elements that interfered with people's senses, probably designed to prevent certain perceptive individuals from remembering the direction.

Compared to the previous sea area, where only different waters were used for tracking, this sea area is much more rigorous.

Not only were there strange waters, but many sea creatures also lurked beneath the calm seabed.

These sea beasts were all of high level, ranging from the lowest Nascent Soul stage to the highest Integration stage. They patrolled in batches like a patrol team.

If Lu Li hadn't possessed naturally keen senses, he probably wouldn't have been able to detect the turbulent undercurrents beneath the calm surface.

Of course, they were even more curious about what the Zhuansun family was planning and hiding behind all this.

Therefore, when they went through several layers of checks and confirmations, and took the teleportation array twice, and finally arrived in front of the mineral vein located deep in the sea, they were not surprised at all.

However, the existence of the mineral vein was not the only thing that was known. When they saw clearly what kind of mineral vein it was, both Lu Li and Shushu, who was not looking at it from the space, had their pupils shrink and their eyes were full of disbelief.

For what lay before them was a massive mountain of star-shaped alkyne deposits.

Starry Sky, many people may not know it just by hearing the name, but one of its results is something that all cultivators have seen, or at least heard of: the Secret Realm.

Yes, it is a secret realm.

Aside from those who have reached a certain level of strength, received the divine inspiration, or possess inherited memories, few people in the Lower Three Realms know that Starry Sky Elixir can actually be used to refine secret realms.

At the same time, this stuff is a raw material used by various immortal lords in the immortal realm to refine their cave dwellings and palaces.

Whether in the lower realm or the upper realm, the rarity and value of this item are beyond question.

Even the slightest leak could cause a huge uproar. If the news of such a large Starry Sky Qie mineral vein were to leak out, even the immortals in the Upper Realm would likely be tempted to covet it.

It's unexpected that the Zhuansun family could have carried out such a large-scale operation so quietly. No wonder they set up so many checkpoints outside.

However, it was precisely because of the discovery of the Starry Sky Quetzal vein that Lu Li and Shu Shu had basically confirmed that the dean of Lingxin Academy and others were likely in the hands of the Zhuansun family.

After all, Starry Sky Alkylene is also a raw material for establishing extraterritorial battlefields, and the core of the Starry Sky Alkylene mine is a rare and precious material that can continuously supply spiritual energy.

The "precious treasure" Pei Anlan mentioned back then must have been referring to this.

Therefore, after figuring out the ins and outs of the matter, the fellow disciples did not hesitate for long and decided to find the person first.

When they learned from the manager that they would have to dig here for three months before they could go back for a break, the brothers and sisters were not afraid at all; on the contrary, they were glad that they had enough time.

As for the mandatory task mentioned by the steward, which required each person to submit no less than ten pieces of Starry Sky Essence every day, neither of them paid much attention to it. After all, the puppet given by Immortal Venerable Luofeng could do this.

I don't know what Immortal Venerable Luofeng was thinking, creating a puppet that can operate without the support of spiritual energy in the cultivation world.

Moreover, the puppet was so lifelike that even powerful beings at the Fusion Realm didn't notice anything amiss. That's why the Millet Puppet hasn't been discovered yet.

However, it was thanks to these two puppets that the senior and junior siblings' plan could proceed smoothly; otherwise, they would not know what to do.

Perhaps worried that these newcomers might cause trouble if they got together, all their teams were broken up and formed into small, unfamiliar groups, which were then inserted into the teams of the already numb older members.

Then, a group of ten people were taken to different areas. The person in charge of guarding the area waved his spirit whip, and the old people began to pick up their jade hoes and dig.

Seeing this, Lu Li didn't say anything and quickly started moving as well.

The other person standing nearby, the one who had almost gotten into a fight with the guards earlier, had probably been instructed to do so. Upon noticing Lu Li's movement, he immediately followed suit.

His obedient and compliant demeanor made it seem as if the troublemaker from before wasn't him at all.

Just as they were getting started, they heard crying and wailing from the side, from both men and women.

The two men, who had been focused on their work, paused, glancing at the group next to them who were being beaten for being too slow.

Lu Li understood immediately, but the hothead was startled. He didn't dare to stop his movements, but his body unconsciously moved towards Lu Li.

He decided in his heart that he would do whatever Lu Li did from now on. He wasn't very smart, so following a smart person was always the right thing to do.

Although he still felt wronged, this young master had come to terms with reality and knew that this was not his family, and those people would not give in to him.

It can only be said that the harsh realities of society are truly the fastest path to growth.

Lu Li probably never imagined that his pragmatism would bring him a sycophant, and one with a very important background at that.