At that moment, the Great Daoist Brush Master had the same thought as Ye Guan. If he wanted to break free from this place, the simplest way was to kill Ye Guan. As long as he killed Ye Guan, he would win the bet. Both of them thought of killing each other, but neither of them made a move. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to do it. The two of them kept digging without knowing how much time had passed. Just then, they noticed that the miners around them had stopped working and were sprawled out on the ground, resting. Ye Guan and the Great Daoist Brush Master followed suit and lay to rest. They had been digging for nearly ten days straight! Were they only allowed to rest once every ten days? Ye Guan didn't bother thinking too much about it. Instead, he looked at the chains around his hands and legs, wondering if there was a way to break them. He released his divine sense, but the chains were imbued with a strange force that engulfed his divine sense the moment it got close enough to the chains. Ye Guan frowned deeply. With his current strength, he wouldn't be able to break them at all. Ye Guan looked up. The scorching suns above them had disappeared, leaving only an endless stretch of starry sky. What the hell was this place? Could it be that the martial art civilization here is actually higher than the Main Universe? Ye Guan was completely clueless. He turned to look at the Great Daoist Brush Master nearby. Seeing the same confused look in his eyes, Ye Guan realized that he also had no idea where they were. It was obvious that his father had deliberately brought them to a civilization that neither of them would recognize. He was being fair, after all. The Great Daoist Brush Master's connections were extensive, and no one knew how many allies he had. Now that they were in an unknown place, however, they both had to build everything from scratch. Of course, the biggest problem was how to get out of this place. Ye Guan looked around, and then he moved closer to a man nearby. Ye Guan called out, "Brother." The man gave him a glance but said nothing. "How long are we going to stay here?" Ye Guan asked. The man coldly replied, "Permanently." Ye Guan froze. "Permanently?" Ye Guan felt a chill sink into his heart. He further pressed, "Brother, what is this place?" "This is a Star Spiritual Mine." "Could you tell me more about it?" Ye Guan probed. "This is the ruins of a Star Spiritual Mine that is controlled by the empire. Judging by your look, you probably don't know the empire, do you?" Ye Guan was quick to nod. "I don't." The man was curious now. "Then how did you end up here?" The man turned to look at him and furrowed his brows. Clearly, he didn't believe Ye Guan at all. Ye Guan revealed a bitter smile. "It really was an accident. It's a long story..." The man withdrew his gaze and said, "The empire is the strongest power here, ruling over nearly a thousand Major Civilizations. Only the distant Celestial Clan can take them on." Ye Guan asked, "What's the highest cultivation realm here?" Without a doubt, there was a huge difference between this place and the Main Universe. However, Ye Guan wanted to know the strength of the top cultivators here. "The Transcendent Realm." "The Transcendent Realm?" Ye Guan was stunned. "You've seen Transcendent Ones before?" asked the man. The man became skeptical. "Really?" Ye Guan didn't respond. He hadn't expected that the Transcendent Realm was the highest cultivation realm here as well. Soon, he understood. He couldn't group that man and the Main Universe together. That man's strength far exceeded the martial arts civilization of the Main Universe. When Ye Guan thought about how the man was the Old God all along, he chuckled to himself. The Old God had to be at a higher realm by now. Ye Guan asked, "Has anyone ever escaped from here?" The man turned to look at Ye Guan and stared at him silently. "We can't possibly be imprisoned here for life, can we?" Ye Guan asked. "Many have tried to escape. But throughout history, there's only been one rumored escapee, and they might just be a legend." The man looked into the depths of the starry sky. "You know who created those blazing suns?" he asked. Ye Guan shook his head. "They are created by just one God General at the Half-Step Transcendent Realm. The empire has at least a hundred thousand God Generals." Upon hearing that, Ye Guan fell silent. If Ye Guan had access to his faith power and the Qingxuan Sword, he would be considered a top-tier cultivator here. Against Transcendent Realm cultivators, however, he would still be too weak. He recalled the time he faced that man; he wasn't able to fight back at all. Transcendent Ones were truly terrifying. Just then, the man probed once again, asking, "How exactly did you get here?" "I was teleported here." "You want to escape?" "It's impossible." The man shook his head. "Anyone who is sent here, whether they are a demonic beast or a human being, is marked for death by the empire. "They might allow you to die here, but you are never allowed to leave this place. Even if you manage to escape, you'll have a bounty on your head. You won't survive outside. Moreover, without any identification documents, you won't be able to do anything outside either." Ye Guan then asked, "Why are you here, then?" "Rebellion?" Ye Guan was shocked. "You rebelled?" The man calmly asked, "Does it not look like it?" Ye Guan looked deeply at the man."Honestly, not really." Suddenly, the man's eyes turned ferocious. "This rotten empire should have been destroyed a long time ago." Ye Guan's mind spun, and then he responded, "You're right." The man turned to him with eyes that seemed to glow. "You think so, too?" "If the empire is unjust, it should be overthrown." The man was clearly excited. "Yes! I didn't expect to meet a kindred spirit here. It's a pity I'm trapped here and can't recruit you..." So he does have some people with him! Ye Guan kept his expression neutral. "Don't lose hope, there will be a way." The man sighed quietly. He knew that he would probably never leave this place, but he didn't want to crush Ye Guan's hope. Ye Guan looked at the Great Daoist Brush Master nearby, who was staring at the sky in silence. "Great Daoist Brush Master, let me ask you something." The Great Daoist Brush Master dismissed him, saying, "Get lost." "I have a way out of here." The Great Daoist Brush Master turned to look at Ye Guan, unconvinced. "Speak," the Great Daoist Brush Master said. He knew this little bastard was full of tricks and thought that perhaps he had thought of a way out. Ye Guan smiled cheekily and said, "Just kidding, I'm not telling you." The Great Daoist Brush Master shot daggers at Ye Guan. Ye Guan grinned. Making him suffer brought Ye Guan joy. Damn it! If it weren't for the Great Daoist Brush Master screwing things up, he would have grown slowly and eventually be able to crush Transcendent Ones. The Great Daoist Brush Master suddenly laughed. "Ye Guan, I know you despise me, but you should be thanking me." "You and I are actually in the same boat, but you haven't even realized it yet. You traitorous punk." "Stop trying to act profound," Ye Guan said dismissively. The Great Daoist Brush Master frowned slightly. Ye Guan asked, "Even you weren't aware of this empire, were you?" "Am I omnipotent and omniscient in your eyes?" the Great Daoist Brush Master asked as he lifted his head to gaze into the depths of the starry sky. The Great Daoist Brush Master laughed. "Your father dumped us in a place that is unknown even to me. Wasn't it to ensure true fairness? Now this is our chessboard. Have you ever thought about how you want to play this game?" "Are you trying to scare me?" "You really think I'm just targeting you?" Ye Guan laughed. "Save it. Let's just see who can escape from this hellhole first." Soon, everyone resumed working. It was day after day of endless mining. Neither Ye Guan nor the Great Daoist Brush Master had expected it, but they ended up mining for ten whole years. Over the past ten years, they couldn't find a way out at all. They mocked each other daily, had awkward silences, and secretly plotted a way out together, but they still hadn't found an opportunity to escape. With absolute strength suppressing everything, all wisdom and strategies were nothing but empty talk. One day, Ye Guan finally saw an opportunity. Today, the miners weren't working, and the overseers, who were usually hidden, appeared. They stood respectfully on both sides of the road, seemingly waiting for something. There was deathly silence all over the place. Then, a starry light descended from the depths of the galaxy. A group of people arrived on a newly built platform. A woman in a black dress was at the helm. She had a cold look on her face, and her eyes were imposing. Twelve elite cultivators in black armor stood behind her. The moment Ye Guan saw her, he quickly changed into clean clothes and used his spiritual energy to clean himself thoroughly. He instantly stood out from the crowd. The Great Daoist Brush Master frowned. What's that bastard up to? Just then, the miners knelt, except for Ye Guan. Ye Guan stared boldly at the woman in black. The guards glared at him. In their eyes, Ye Guan was already a dead man. The Great Daoist Brush Master sneered, thinking that Ye Guan was trying to get himself killed. The woman in black's gaze fell on Ye Guan. She stared at him for a moment before asking, "Why are you not kneeling?" "Ah!" Ye Guan yelped, then stammered nervously, "Y-you're just so beautiful t-that I forgot... I've never seen anyone so beautiful before..." Everyone was speechless. The woman in black stared at him for a long time. "Come with me." What the fuck?! The Great Daoist Brush Master stared at Ye Guan with his mouth agape. He was stunned. That works?!