Chapter 584: Silence

Ye Lin fell into complete silence.

To be honest, he felt that his current situation was not much better than when he had previously transmigrated into the body of an infant in the Qingcheng slums.

However, at the same time, a bold idea also occurred to him.

Ye Lin was seen rubbing his hands together, asking with a look of anticipation.

"Brother Kuoyan, I have never seen Immortal Source ore before; could you let me touch it?"

"Of course you can, go ahead, touch it all you want."

Kuoyan very generously handed the head-sized piece of Immortal Source ore to Ye Lin.

He was not worried about Ye Lin doing anything to the Immortal Source ore; unrefined ore was full of impurities, and absorbing it directly would only be counterproductive.

"Wow! Is this Immortal Source ore?"

Ye Lin held the Immortal Source ore, a shy smile appearing on his face.

Then, he quietly activated Endless Devour!

A wisp of pure energy seeped into Ye Lin's body, and at the same time, the fluorescence of the Immortal Source ore dimmed slightly.

Ye Lin felt a surge of joy in his heart, thinking to himself that there was a chance!

Sure enough, as long as it was something containing energy, he could refine it directly using Endless Devour.

Whether it was the corpse of a powerful creature after death, or things like demonic energy or Immortal Source ore, he could refine them all.

This discovery gave Ye Lin a sense of confidence.

He had originally wanted to find an opportunity to escape the mining area, but now, he had changed his mind.

One hundred million low-grade Immortal Source stones were not so easy to come by, and he had no idea how strong the cultivators in this world were.

Rather than running around blindly, it was better to lie low in the mining area and develop for a while.

At the very least, he had to reshape his body and adapt to the rules of the Longevity Continent first.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you working? Are you slacking off?"

A cold voice rang out, and Team Leader Qiu Weizhi walked over with a sullen face.

Seeing this, Kuoyan's expression changed; he was terrified that Ye Lin would do something reckless and talk back to Qiu Weizhi. While giving Ye Lin a look, he sycophantically lifted the head-sized Immortal Source ore and presented it before Qiu Weizhi.

"Team Leader, we aren't slacking off. We just dug up a large piece of Immortal Source ore and were too excited, so we stopped for a moment."

"Oh?"

Qiu Weizhi raised a corner of his mouth into a meaningful smile.

"Are you making excuses to get out of it? Slacking is slacking; you want to quibble even after being caught red-handed by me?"

"You, and that newcomer, are each fined one low-grade Immortal Source stone, to be deducted from your next month's wages."

Upon hearing this, Kuoyan's face turned extremely ugly; it was clear that Qiu Weizhi was deliberately making things difficult for them.

But Kuoyan could only close his eyes in pain and squeeze four words through his teeth.

"Very well, understood."

Qiu Weizhi curled his lips and looked at Ye Lin provocatively, asking.

"What? Do you have an objection?"

"This humble one has no objection!"

Ye Lin immediately shook his head.

"The Team Leader's punishment is just; the Team Leader's punishment is wise! When Heaven is about to place a great burden on a man, it first pains his heart and mind, exhausts his muscles and bones, starves his body, leaves him destitute, and frustrates his every action!"

"Team Leader, what looks like punishment on the surface is actually you giving us an opportunity for training! You are too great!"

"Team Leader! You have worked hard!"

Every word and sentence from Ye Lin came from the bottom of his heart.

It was full of genuine emotion, enough to move one to tears.

If Ye Lin had previously been desperate to cause trouble to get kicked out of the mining area, now he was fighting tooth and nail to stay in it.

Once these words were out, not only was Qiu Weizhi dumbfounded, but the surrounding ascenders who had been mining were also stunned.

What was going on here?

Had this guy reached such a state of perfection in his bootlicking?

Kuoyan looked at Ye Lin in utter bewilderment; he had originally been worried that Ye Lin would continue to talk back to Qiu Weizhi, but he never expected Ye Lin to be even better at handling such situations than he was.

Ye Lin, however, remained composed, his face full of sincerity.

Just kidding—who among those who successfully climbed up from the bottom didn't know how to read the room, cater to others, and flatter their superiors?

The only reason Ye Lin didn't use this ability later was because he no longer needed to, not because he didn't know how.

Qiu Weizhi's cheeks flushed slightly.

He had originally intended to find a fault and teach this newcomer, Ye Lin, a good lesson, but with Ye Lin praising him so much, he felt a bit embarrassed instead.

"Ahem, since you have realized my good intentions, then your punishment shall be waived."

Qiu Weizhi waved his hand generously.

"No!"

Ye Lin flatly refused, and even offered a suggestion to Qiu Weizhi.

"Team Leader! Not only must you punish us! You must punish us severely! High wages are not conducive to the struggle of us ascenders!"

Qiu Weizhi froze; why did he vaguely feel... that this person was even more of a beast than he was?

He only used his status as Team Leader to exploit and target ascenders who didn't listen to him.

But if Ye Lin were to become the Team Leader... Qiu Weizhi shuddered involuntarily just thinking about it.

"Alright, alright, say no more!" Qiu Weizhi hurriedly told Ye Lin to shut up.

He had already noticed that the gazes of many ascenders around them directed at Ye Lin were no longer right; if Ye Lin kept talking, he probably wouldn't live through the night.

"No! I must speak! I want the whole world to hear my voice!"

Ye Lin shouted with his arms raised.

"We have just ascended to the Upper Realm, unfamiliar with the place; it is the mining area that gave us the opportunity to work and a place to stay. For us to still ask the mining area for wages—isn't that putting the cart before the horse and biting the hand that feeds us?"

"Therefore, I, Ye Lin, sincerely call upon all ascenders here: let us pay to mine!"

Pay to mine!

Pay to mine!

Mine!

Mine!

Ye Lin's voice echoed throughout the mining area.

Within the entire mining area, there was dead silence; one could hear a pin drop.

Pairs of blood-red eyes stared fixedly at Ye Lin, killing intent surging in them.

The atmosphere in the mining area was like a giant powder keg; at this moment, it only needed a single spark to detonate completely!

Qiu Weizhi was scared out of his wits and hurriedly covered Ye Lin's mouth.

"Shut your damn mouth!"

Before these ascenders ascended, which one of them wasn't a heaven-gifted genius or a top figure in their respective worlds?

Having to work as a mere servant doing menial labor upon ascending to the Longevity Continent had already caused a sense of resentment to build up in their hearts.

If Ye Lin continued to talk about paying to mine, a riot might break out in the entire mining area.

Once the ascenders in the mining area rioted, he didn't know what would happen to others, but he, as the Team Leader, would definitely be in for a miserable time.

In the mining area, he was a high-and-mighty Team Leader, but in the eyes of those big shots, he was nothing more than an ant.

The big shots wouldn't care why a riot occurred in the mining area; they would only think that the riot affected the mining output and would take their anger out on him, the Team Leader.

"What are you looking at? Get back to mining! Do you not want your wages next month?"

Qiu Weizhi barked, his eyes cold.

Intimidated by his authority as Team Leader, many ascenders could only continue to work in silence, though their gazes toward Ye Lin remained hostile.

If they couldn't deal with the Team Leader, couldn't they deal with a newcomer?