Diligence System: From Servant to Martial King

Although the area of Jade City is not as vast as Baidi City or the Imperial Capital, it is still expansive, with a total of three hundred and sixty districts, symbolizing "completeness and perfection." It begins at "Forging Mountain" in the east and ends at "Iron Sea Mountain" in the west. Surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one, the terrain is high in the east and low in the west.

The number of mountain ranges is too many to count in detail, but there are at least thousands, if not tens of thousands, connected by valleys. Despite the dangerous terrain, transportation and trade continue unimpeded. Key strategic locations are heavily guarded with checkpoints.

There are many renowned fortresses such as Yumen Pass, Songhui Pass, Chixiong Pass, and Mandao Pass, which have seen many significant battles. Jade City has always emerged victorious, taking captives and spoils.

Solid as gold soup, there’s no hope for attack or retreat.

Wang Shan and Liang Huohuo, being free and unburdened by debts, can leave the mining area and enter the city during their leisure time each day. However, the distance from Jade Pillar Mountain to Jade City "West Gate" is several dozen miles, which is very exhausting.

Although Wang Shan is a member of the Yu People, he comes from a poor family and has no knowledge of martial arts, being a mere mortal clay embryo. Thus, he often stays overnight in the wooden dwellings, waiting for the "district examination" in a few months, hoping to gather enough silver taels to register his name and seize an opportunity to change his fate.

Li Xian suddenly thought of his "younger brother" from the past, who was barely clothed. With winter approaching, their lives were at stake. The two brothers took risks to make a living, and now both have achieved some success.

Li Xian thought, "I wonder how my younger brother is doing. With a great master’s full support, he should be much better off than I am." He took a big drink of water, rested for a while, and waited for the dust to settle before energizing himself to continue mining jade.

In the dark tunnel, Li Xian quietly observed his surroundings. Seeing no one was paying attention, he twisted a strand of hair and planted it into the ground. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated, using the hair to sense underground. Within a hundred-meter radius, the locations of concealed jade appeared in his mind.

This time, Li Xian focused entirely on sensing, and what he discovered and perceived was more abundant. He wondered, "These various jades have strange shapes and contain different characteristics. Although their shapes differ, isn’t there a certain similarity among them?"

Being new to the mineral vein, he did not yet know how to distinguish the jades. But he instinctively sensed that there were no rare jade types around. So, he pulled out his hair and moved far away, planting it again to sense anew.

After visiting two places in this manner, he still found no trace of rare jade types. Li Xian knew that although this mine was rich, it did not contain rare jade varieties. He said nothing of it and silently continued excavating, planning to leave the vein with the team at the time of dusk.

By the time they exited the vein, it was pitch black again, marking another day. Zhang Cun removed his mask and sighed, "Every day we are like this, entering the cave before dawn and coming out when it’s already dark. Thinking about it carefully, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen sunlight."

After a simple wash, they collected food and returned to the wooden dwelling to rest.

Such days passed for four days.

Li Xian didn’t stop observing for a moment and gradually discerned the relationships among jade miners, learning about the terrain and topography of Jade Pillar Mountain’s mineral vein.

Here in the wooden dwellings, there are one hundred seventy-four structures accommodating nearly a thousand people, which has formed four "forces." Several jade mining teams have united and occupied areas with richer jade yields.

Fights occur frequently below the veins, but they never result in fatalities. The teams of Zhang Cun and Li Xian are not part of any major forces, wandering freely and never stepping into rich mining areas, always having to explore elsewhere.

Having understood the situation, Li Xian began to seek opportunities. He first took out three strands of hair and planted each in the quarters of the leaders among the jade mining factions, constantly monitoring the situation.

The leaders are Jiang Hucheng, Qiu Lie, and Biao De. Jiang Hucheng is a native of Jade City, Qiu Lie has been working in Jade Pillar Mountain for twenty years, and Biao De, though cunning and only in the city for a year, is adept at exploiting opportunities and has good relations with many soldiers, often sending gifts to ingratiate himself and planning to explore opportunities in Jade City.

These three have different temperaments but are all ruthless. Even here, they live comfortably, each having a wooden tower to themselves. Every night, Li Xian listens in on the news, learning that the three often indulge with beauties, playing in extraordinary ways.

And so it goes.

Li Xian, seemingly insignificant and unnoticed, quietly takes in all the information. He muses, "Only by staying in the shadows can I ensure that if an opportunity arises, I can seize it immediately."

Through these experiences, he becomes increasingly calm and composed, silently observing various disputes, gradually perceiving the commonalities among jades.

Li Xian has extracted several hundred pieces of jade. He takes out a strand of hair, planting it in the jade. The roots extend into the jade, allowing him to finely sense the "jade characteristics." Though unaware of the jade names, he first becomes familiar with their characteristics.

He discovers that ordinary jade types, regardless of their external changes, have only "sixty-four" types of "jade characteristics," vaguely corresponding to the "sixty-four hexagrams." Li Xian, being skilled in the art of the five elements, has studied the sixty-four hexagrams. Discovering this connection fascinates him endlessly.

He once indirectly asked Zhang Cun about the use of jade, but despite Zhang Cun’s long experience in mining, he knew nothing of it. Seeing Zhang Cun’s lack of information, Li Xian did not press further, choosing instead to continue his research on jade characteristics and speculate on their uses.

Within a jade piece, multiple jade characteristics can coexist. This type of jade belongs to ordinary jade types. As jade characteristics become purer, the jade becomes increasingly rare. A month passes like this. Li Xian has no time to practice martial arts and can only meditate at night to purify his internal energy, silently reading medical scriptures to strengthen his resolve.

His strength also grows slowly.

Even though a month passes without seeing daylight or advancing, Li Xian remains unperturbed and not anxious. He continues to bide his time while exploring the joys of jade mining, finding pleasure in the transformation of jade characteristics.

Though every day in the mine is shrouded in darkness, many strange and mysterious events occur.

Li Xian, Zhang Cun, Liang Huohuo, Wang Shan, and Yue Luofan enter the jade vein together. Li Xian stands calm and decisive, gradually becoming the de facto leader among the five. Although Zhang Cun is a Martial Artist, he is honest by nature, with strength that could step into the First Realm.