Xuan Xi knew that he was still far from being an average cultivator. But well, he was now a cultivator, which was surprisingly abnormal given the current state of his body.
To any local observer, the frail, malnourished frame he now inhabited wouldn't be fit to tread the path of cultivation at all.
Despite wanting to know how he got here and what cosmic accident had occurred, he knew that just thinking about it wouldn't give him answers—only a mountain of confusion and useless assumptions. He immediately fixed his goal. This body would not survive if he had to fight his way out of the Iron Blade Sect's slave camp using standard means.
'Fortunately, this place is saturated with raw energy sources,' Xuan Xi analyzed internally, his eyes scanning the glowing veins of ore in the dark.
'Mages back home don't get physical power from just absorbing and cultivating energy; magic only refines the Sage Soul. But for cultivators, this Qi doesn't just strengthen their Dantian—it actively mutates and reinforces their physical flesh.'
Being a cultivator unlocked superhuman capabilities. It was a fascinating shortcut to physical durability.
Unbeknownst to Xuan Xi, the heavy, rhythmic thud of leather boots was echoing down the tunnel. The Outer Overseer of the camp had entered. The man's eyes scanned the rows of laboring slaves until they locked onto Xuan Xi, who was sitting perfectly still in a lotus position, completely ignoring his pickaxe.
"What is he doing? How dare he waste precious time?!" the Overseer growled under his breath.
Afraid that the slave's laziness would cause the section to miss its daily mining quota, the Overseer tightened his grip on his heavy, iron-studded wooden club. His face darkened into a scowl as he marched directly toward the stationary boy.
Xuan Xi's advanced mental senses finally picked up a thick wave of malicious intent. He peeked through half-closed eyelids and saw a towering figure standing at least six feet tall, casting a wide shadow over the dirt.
'With my current physical frailty, a direct hit from that club would effortlessly crush my bones,' he noted, his heart rate remaining entirely steady despite the danger.
This Overseer was already at Body Tempering Level Three, which was a significant gap from Xuan Xi's newly reinforced Dantian, which sat firmly at Body Tempering Level Two given his current progress.
While Xuan Xi had grown slightly stronger from absorbing the refined Qi from the raw Qi-infused iron ore, he was still far from defeating the giant with pure physical strength.
"Hey, slave boy! How dare you slack off!"
The Overseer roared, bringing the heavy club down in a brutal, vertical arc meant to shatter the boy's shoulder.
BOOM!
Xuan Xi threw his weight backward, rolling across the uneven earth just in time. The club smashed into the exact spot where he had been sitting, fracturing the stone floor and creating a small crater. Dust and sharp gravel sprayed outward. If that blow had connected, the damage would have been catastrophic.
Xuan Xi exhaled a quiet breath, dusting off his tattered sleeves.
"You dare to dodge? I will make an example out of you!" the Overseer barked, his ego instantly stung by the miss.
All around them, the other miners stopped their tools. Afraid to interfere but unable to look away, they quickly scrambled toward the tunnel walls, forming a wide, silent circle.
The Overseer smirked, his knuckles cracking as he shifted his weight. 'It has been weeks since I properly punished a slave,' he thought, a cruel satisfaction washing over him. 'This will be a good reminder for the rest of them.'
"You are a slave for a reason," the giant bellowed, stepping over the crater. "I am an overseer because I am a cultivator. A mortal piece of trash like you should learn his place and follow instructions. Now, what is this? A little mutiny? You don't appear to be afraid of me, hu?!"
Xuan Xi's eyes were far from showing fear. To be exact, his pupils were completely dilated, his mind operating like a high-speed calculator.
'This fool relies entirely on brute force and intimidation,' Xuan Xi observed, watching the man's sloppy posture. 'Because of his massive overconfidence, he won't expect a slave to launch a counterattack. This is the only clean opportunity I will get.'
Escaping the mines was his primary objective, and defeating an overseer was the first step to breaking his chains. He had to end this fight right now.
'Based on the density of his Qi, his technique is incredibly unrefined—likely near the peak of Level Three. He uses his cultivation to show off to mortals, but he cannot use his full power to kill me. If a mining asset dies under his watch, the daily output slows, and his own superiors will punish him. He will hold back just enough to keep me alive.'
The Overseer sneered, circulating his energy. A dull, greyish light coated his right fist as he activated the Iron Skin Qi—a common, low-tier technique that hardened the flesh to make each blow incredibly heavy and resistant to pain.
Whoosh!
A massive, sweeping punch cut through the air. It was incredibly fast and packed with raw weight. Xuan Xi's primitive reflexes almost weren't enough to evade it. Thankfully, his Sage mind read the subtle twitch of the Overseer's shoulder a fraction of a second before the muscle expanded, allowing him to forcefully push his weak physical body out of the trajectory.
The fist grazed his cheek, the wind pressure stinging his skin.
'I absolutely cannot defeat him with raw strength...'
Just as his mind searched for a viable solution, his analytical vision locked onto a massive flaw in the Overseer's circulation pattern. The Iron Skin Qi wasn't perfect; it possessed a severe structural weak point.
'Covering the body with Qi to improve physical durability requires a balanced distribution,' Xuan Xi deduced, his lips curving upward. 'To make his fist as hard as iron, he had to pull the Qi away from the lower half of his body. The denser his fist becomes, the less protected the rest of his frame is.'
As the Overseer overextended from the momentum of the second missed swing, Xuan Xi didn't waste the golden opportunity. He didn't use a flashy martial art. Instead, he gripped his damaged pickaxe with both hands and slammed the pointed metal tip straight into the completely undefended groin of the giant.
The Overseer instantly froze, his eyes widening to the size of saucers as the delayed wave of agonizing pain hit his nervous system.
But Xuan Xi wasn't finished. Knowing a Level Three cultivator's vitality was abnormally high, he didn't give the man a chance to recover. The Overseer's face jolted, his muscles tensing to swing again, but Xuan Xi instantly channeled his highly compressed, cubic Qi directly to the tip of the tool.
Squelch!
The sharp iron tip pierced deep through the flesh. Blood instantly gushed out, staining the dust.
'Groins are still weak points for any man, regardless of their world's energy,' Xuan Xi noted coldly.
Crying out in a mixture of rage and absolute agony, the Overseer frantically jumped backward, clutching his lower body, his face twisted into a horrific, sweating grimace of pain.