Ore Everywhere, Fork in the Road

Assam's determined face creased in pain.

A moment later, he also felt a surge of power within him, surprise flashing in his eyes.

"So, this was Lord's intention? It's truly miraculous."

"Thank you for the whipping, my respected Lord!"

Assam said respectfully.

At this point, Assam said a little sheepishly, "Lord, may I ask if you can whip me a few more times?"

"Assam wants to become stronger!"

Cao Xing shook his head. "No, only the first whip has an effect."

Hearing this, Assam nodded with some regret.

The people nearby, listening to their conversation, were completely bewildered.

Although they knew Cao Xing's actions might have some purpose, this was too strange.

Cao Xing knew they had misunderstood. He coughed twice, then explained the whip's effect to them.

Upon hearing this, their eyes showed a look of realization.

At this moment, Cao Xing said, "Then, Andrew, Sarah, let me bestow blessings upon you as well."

Andrew and Sarah exchanged a glance, then nodded.

Cao Xing whipped them one by one.

"Crack!"

"Crack!"

In this deep mine cave, the sound of whips lashing echoed.

Andrew was fine; he had thick skin, and this pain didn't affect him much.

But Sarah beside him trembled slightly.

If it were written here, Sarah's Loyalty +6 would be a killer move.

When it was Liu Muxue's turn, she looked at the whip in Cao Xing's hand with some fear and said softly, "A Xing... do I have to too?"

Cao Xing pondered for a moment and nodded. "Yes, a 10% increase in movement speed is quite a significant improvement."

"Besides, you only need to endure the first hit, and it will be over."

Liu Muxue pondered for a moment and nodded. "Okay."

Cao Xing had no ulterior thoughts and directly whipped her.

"Oof!"

Liu Muxue let out a muffled groan and then looked at Cao Xing pitifully.

"It... it hurts so much..."

Seeing this scene, Cao Xing couldn't help but recall last night's events, and his Blood Essence surged for a moment.

But he quickly calmed down.

Cao Xing coughed twice and said, "The buffs have all been applied. Let's continue moving forward."

Andrew and Assam continued to advance.

There was an Iron Rail in the passage, extending deeper.

Cao Xing collected the Iron Rails on the ground as he moved along the route.

Iron Rail +1

Iron Rail +1

After walking for a short while, Cao Xing had already collected over a hundred meters of Iron Rail!

Even if decomposed into Iron, it would be hundreds of pieces!

Cao Xing rejoiced, "If I pick up a bit more Iron Rail, I can connect that Coal Mine to my Territory, and the speed of resource collection will greatly increase."

Just then, the mine tunnel ahead opened into a fork.

The left path seemed to lead to the depths of the mine cave, with the faint roar of machinery coming from within.

The right path was sealed with wooden boards, with a red 'X' drawn on them.

This seemed to be a restricted area.

Everyone stopped, waiting for Cao Xing's decision.

Cao Xing pondered for a moment and then said, "Andrew, tear down the wooden boards. I want to see what's inside first."

Andrew obeyed the order and directly swung his giant bear claws, striking out.

"Crack! Crack!"

The wooden boards were smashed to pieces, revealing the scene inside the mine cave.

Cao Xing saw that in the mine cave ahead, there seemed to be several collapsed mine carts, with some excavated ores scattered on the ground nearby.

The group of Mole People seemed to have encountered some situation and were left behind here, unable to retreat in time.

Sarah, hidden in the shadows, suddenly spoke, "I sense a dangerous aura inside..."

Cao Xing frowned upon hearing this.

Sarah was an Elite monster at level 20. If even she felt danger, it meant there was some terrifying creature inside.

Cao Xing said, "Sarah, go and investigate."

Sarah nodded and then disappeared directly into the shadows.

One minute later, Sarah reappeared and said, "Reconnaissance complete. It's a Tier 2 Monster's lair."

"A Tier 2 Monster, how strong is it?"

Sarah pondered for a moment and replied, "It should possess strength comparable to mine."

Cao Xing nodded in realization.

Comparable to Sarah meant it was an Elite monster at level 20.

Cao Xing asked, "Do you have the confidence to deal with it?"

Sarah thought for a moment and replied, "With the blessing bestowed by Lord, it should not be a major problem."

"If we cooperate with these two companions, then victory will be all but assured."

Cao Xing felt relieved upon hearing this.

"Excellent, then let's go in directly!"

As he finished speaking, Andrew and Assam immediately walked towards the mine cave on the right.

Cao Xing and Liu Muxue followed behind.

He quickly arrived in front of one of the collapsed mine carts, with some ores scattered beside it.

Cao Xing directly packed away the mine cart along with the ores on the ground.

Obtained Mine Cart * 1, Iron Ore * 31, Cursed Metal * 7, Mithril Ore * 8, Magic Stone * 17, Stone * 64...

"Huh? So much Mithril and Magic Stone?" Cao Xing rejoiced inwardly.

These were, after all, high-level materials, very valuable.

Cao Xing began to examine them.

Iron Ore: Can be processed in the Ore Processing Plant. 1 ore can be processed into 5 Iron. Cursed Metal: A metal infused with the resentment of the deceased (Can be used to craft certain evil alchemical items.) Mithril Ore: Can be processed in the Ore Processing Plant. 1 Mithril Ore can be processed into 3 Mithril (Note: Requires a Level 3 Ore Processing Plant) Magic Stone: A stone containing energy, which can power some special devices.

Cao Xing nodded with satisfaction and looked at the other mine carts on the ground.

Then he packed them all away.

Obtained Mine Cart * 1, Obtained Iron Ore * 42, Cursed Metal * 9, Mithril Ore * 7, Magic Stone * 19, Stone * 72...

Besides these, he didn't let go of the Iron Rails on the ground either.

Obtained Iron Rail * 42, Obtained Abandoned Mine Cart * 7, Obtained...

Cao Xing followed behind Andrew and Assam, packing away all sorts of ores from the ground.

Liu Muxue was also helping to collect them.

While picking them up, she said with a joyful smile, "A Xing, so much Iron Ore, and so much Mithril Ore!"

Cao Xing nodded, "This trip has been truly rewarding. Just these ores and mine carts make it worthwhile."

Liu Muxue also had a look of joy from the harvest.

It was evident that the Mole People's mine cave was a high-level area.

At least, with the current strength of the survivors, it was impossible to enter.

However, because Cao Xing had three generals under him, he was able to enter the Mole People's mine cave to search for treasures at this level.

The harvest could be described as quite abundant.

As of now, Cao Xing had already collected nearly two hundred sections of Iron Rail.

Fortunately, the survivors' portable backpack function had 20 inventory slots. Similar materials could be stacked up to 400 in one slot.

Large items like mine carts could also be stacked up to nearly 100, occupying only 1 slot.

The portable backpack was quite spacious.

The group continued to move forward.

Until they reached the depths of the passage.

The light here suddenly dimmed.

However, as Cao Xing took out a Magic Stone Torch from his backpack, the darkness within was instantly dispelled.

They noticed that the ceiling and sides of the Mine Cave were covered in white Spider Webs.

The deeper they went, the denser the Spider Webs became.

There were even some large webs that filled the passage, blocking everyone's path.

At the same time, an evil, powerful aura washed over them!