Chapter 9 – Identification

　　 The fat cultivator sitting behind the desk took out a palm-sized jade slip from his storage bag, looked up at Lu Ye, and said, “Name, origin, and cultivation?”

　　 Lu Ye answered one by one.

　　 The fat cultivator groaned, “Mysterious Heaven Sect, Lu Ye…um, I found it, there is such a person!”

　　 Lu Ye just realized that the jade slip in the fat cultivator’s hand should have recorded some information on the mine, including the origin and identity of the mining slaves. After such a check, it could be ensured that no remnants of Evil Moon Valley had mixed in with the slaves.

　　 “But…it’s not right!” The fat cultivator squinted slightly, “It’s recorded in the jade slip that Lu Ye is just a mortal who has not begun cultivating, but you already have. It doesn’t match the information, which makes things a bit difficult.”

　　 While talking, he kept his eyes fixed on the storage bag around Lu Ye’s waist.

　　 Lu Ye smiled secretly, his previous worries were indeed well-founded. A mining slave carrying a storage bag could easily cause some unnecessary covetousness.

　　 It didn’t matter if he offered the fat cultivator this storage bag according to his previous plan; it was a loss of money to eliminate disasters. Besides, he was free now so how could he be afraid that he wouldn’t be able to find something better in the future?

　　 But with the casual remarks made by Elder Tang before, Lu Ye didn’t need to be afraid of anything. Lu Ye felt sure that the honourable old man’s kindness would never bring him disappointment.

　　 Facing the fat cultivator’s scepticism, Lu Ye replied, “I encountered a wounded Evil Moon Valley cultivator in the mine. I killed him and opened my Source Aperture at a moment between life and death.”

　　 The fat cultivator raised his brows when he heard the words. If what Lu Ye said were true, then he had gone through a bit of a desperately serious situation. A tiger was always a tiger after all. Even injured, it was not something that a goat could provoke, let alone kill.

　　 He somewhat understood where the storage bag around Lu Ye’s waist came from…

　　 At this time, the young cultivator who had led Lu Ye leaned over, leaned over and said something in the fat cultivator’s ear. The fat cultivator looked surprised: “Which Elder Tang?”

　　 The young cultivator did not speak. He just looked at him.

　　 The fat cultivator reacted and coughed slightly, looking at Lu Ye with a kinder expression: “So, you are a little courageous! Well, although your identity is basically confirmed, you still have to follow the process. Come with me.”

　　 After saying this, he stood up.

　　 “Brother Pang, I’ll go now.” The young cultivator clasped his fist.

　　 “Go ahead.” Senior brother Pang waved his hand.

　　 Following the fat cultivator, Lu Ye walked in the direction where many former mining slaves gathered.

　　 When he got closer, the fat cultivator put his hands on his waist and took a few breaths before he said, “Is there anyone from Mysterious Heaven Sect? Stand up so I can see you.”

　　 No one answered.

　　 Lu Ye swept his eyes over the crowd, but didn’t see the faces of any Mysterious Heaven Sect disciples.

　　Mysterious Heaven Sect was a small sect after all, and there were not many disciples in the sect to begin with. When it was captured by Evil Moon Valley a year ago, many people died, and only more than 20 young people had survived to be enslaved.

　　 A lot of people had died in this past year, but according to Lu Ye’s memory, there should still be three to five people alive.

　　 But at this moment, he unexpectedly didn’t see any of them.

　　 He couldn’t help feeling a little sad. Although he didn’t have a sense of belonging to the Mysterious Heaven Sect, he was the last one left. It made him feel the cruelty of this world even more.

　　 The fat cultivator spoke up again: “Does anyone know him then?”

　　 Still no one answered.  Lu Ye was not very popular among the mining slaves. While everyone else was sickly and malnourished, struggling to survive every day, Lu Ye was, against all reason, lively, fairly healthy, and wealthy in contribution points to exchange for Qi and Blood pills. In this way, other mining slaves were naturally not fond of the impression he gave them.

　　 Living through the same unfortunate circumstances does not cause people to feel the same, but on the contrary, it made it easier to breed estrangement and rejection for those whose outcomes were better than their own.

　　Lu Ye saw the Liu brothers in the crowd. The two guys weren’t dead; it was just too fateful. But the Liu brothers didn’t mean to stand up to prove Lu Ye’s identity. They just looked at him gleefully.

　　 The fat cultivator couldn’t help but glanced at Lu Ye, wondering if he was truly Mysterious Heaven Sect’s Lu Ye. Since he was a mining slave, someone here ought to be able to prove his identity.

　　 Many people were checked this way before, recognizing each other and confirming their identities.

　　 “I know him. He is Mysterious Heaven Sect’s Lu Ye.” Just when the fat cultivator was beginning to get suspicious, a weak voice called out.

　　 “Who is talking?” The fat cultivator turned his gaze back to the group, following the source of the sound.

　　 The crowd voluntarily separated, revealing the speaker.

　　 Seeing that person’s face clearly, Lu Ye was a little surprised, because he had only one relationship with this person and they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.

　　 It was a woman speaking. Compared with the grey-coated miners around her, her clothes, though not bright, were at least neat and clean.

　　 The fat cultivator looked at the woman, and asked in a deep voice, “Are you sure he is Mysterious Heaven Sect’s Lu Ye? Think clearly before speaking. There is no good end to lying in front of me.”

　　 The woman shrank back, but still firmly said: “I can be sure.”

　　 The fat cultivator nodded, and waved at Lu Ye: “Okay, you’re identity’s clear. Stay in the group here. Don’t run around.” After he finished speaking, he winked at Lu Ye: “Tomorrow, there is an opportunity waiting for you.”

　　 When he finished speaking, he turned around and left.

　　 After he left, the depressive atmosphere in the group let up. Through this, it could be seen that these slaves who had lived at the bottom of the hierarchy for so long were still very afraid of those with power like the fat cultivator.

　　 Lu Ye thought for a while, trying to recall who this woman was. Then he walked towards the woman who had just spoken. When he got closer he said, “Young lady, thank-you for speaking up for me.”

　　 The woman shook her head: “No need. You saved me, but I didn’t have the time to thank-you back then.”

　　She was talking about something that happened nearly half a year ago. At that time, Lu Ye ran into this woman in the depths of the mine. She was being chased by another slave. Lu Ye couldn’t stand it, so he taught the murderous slave a lesson.

　　 It was just that, since that time, he hadn’t seen this woman again.

　　 Lu Ye smiled: “Then we are even?”

　　 The woman also smiled, her sullen face regaining some vitality: “We’re even.”

　　 “Let’s try getting to know each other again. I’m Mysterious Heaven Sect’s Lu Ye!”

　　 The woman replied in the demeanour and etiquette of a girl from a prominent wealthy family: “Yu Clan’s Yu Xiaodie.”

　　 Lu Ye curiously asked, “Does Miss Yu know what we are gathering here for? What was the opportunity that the fat man mentioned just now?”

　　Yu Xiaodie stretched out her hand to pull her hair behind her ears and explained: “We are all people with clear backgrounds and innocent identities. For the most part, we have no cultivation. Even those with cultivation, our cultivation base is very low. Evil Moon Valley did not treat us as human beings and would not train us, but among our group of people, there are definitely some who are suitable for cultivation. The Great Heaven League has already captured this place, so it follows that they will resettle us. Some of us are suitable for cultivation and those with enough aptitude will be taken away by the sects of the Great Heaven League.”

　　 “Is this the opportunity the fat man mentioned?” Lu Ye suddenly understood.