Strength Attribute Breaks 10 Points

"Captain Lin, what do you think brought the Prisoner Butcher all the way to Qingshan City?"

Wu Que suddenly asked.

Captain Lin gently shook his head: "Hard to say what he's thinking, but his coming to Qingshan City is exactly what gave us the chance to catch him. If my men hadn't been careless and underestimated him, he wouldn't have slipped away to your mine vein. Sorry you had to see that."

As he spoke, his constables had already gathered Zhang Hao's remains.

Wu Que asked curiously: "I heard the Prisoner Butcher stole a scripture from Ku Jue Temple a few years back? Is that true or false? A top-tier sect like that—could they really let a petty thief slip in and walk out alive?"

"That I wouldn't know. Since the higher-ups haven't issued a notice and Ku Jue Temple hasn't reacted, it's probably just a rumor. You know how those thieves love fabricating stories to save face."

Captain Lin smiled and shook his head.

After a few more pleasantries, he took his leave and departed with his men.

Wu Que naturally saw them off.

Steward Niu waved his hand: "Alright, back to mining."

The miners dispersed, though they still chattered excitedly about what had just happened.

"Mine and level up! That's the only way to stand firm in the Divine Domain."

Zhang Wei recalled the scene just now, clenched his fists secretly, swept a glance at Yang Ling in the crowd, then turned to search for Fire Crystal Rock.

"Mountain River Sect, Ku Jue Temple... they should be major sects in Zhao State."

"When Supervisor Wu used his technique, his strength reached 24 points, yet he couldn't even land a spot as an outer sect disciple of Mountain River Sect?"

"Just how monstrous are these sect disciples' attributes?"

"Their Martial Arts must be unfathomably profound too. If I could learn them, I'd be able to stand firm in Zhao State."

He had been leveling up steadily lately, even scraping together the five taels of silver to buy an identity.

That had made Yang Ling relax a little, even feel somewhat proud.

But today's events made him realize he was far from out of danger from the Divine Domain.

Not to mention anything else—if Supervisor Wu decided to make a move on him, he probably wouldn't have any ability to fight back.

"At most three moves, and I'd be dead for sure..."

The upcoming miner competition, Fifth Brother's death, and today's incident all brought Yang Ling an unprecedented sense of urgency.

"Level up! I have to level up!"

"Even without Martial Arts, as long as I have enough Attribute Points, I can overwhelm skill with raw power."

Yang Ling immediately went to search for Fire Crystal Rock, planning to descend into the Mine Shaft again when no one was around.

"Chen Xu, isn't that the NPC who lent us three Copper Coins?"

Lin Guoliang spotted Yang Ling and quickly asked in a low voice.

Chen Xu looked closely, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes:

"Let's go talk to him!"

The three quickly approached Yang Ling, intending to strike up a conversation directly. But when they saw Yang Ling swinging his Steel Pickaxe rapidly, each strike chipping off a sizable chunk of Fire Crystal Rock, they were stunned.

One swing from him was worth half a day of their own hard labor!

"So impressive..."

Wu Meng murmured involuntarily.

Lin Guoliang's expression turned serious as he slowly nodded:

"I've been observing a lot of NPCs lately..."

"Don't say that kind of thing."

Chen Xu reminded him.

Lin Guoliang immediately corrected himself:

"I've been observing a lot of miners lately. Their strength and skill are far better than ours, but none of them are as good as this guy. He's probably one of the best miners in this vein."

"I asked around—apparently, Supervisor Wu has his eye on him. In a while, he's going to compete in skill against miners from other veins."

Chen Xu said.

Just then, the Fire Crystal Rock in front of Yang Ling was all mined out. He packed up the broken ore and went looking for his next target.

Chen Xu saw this and immediately jogged over:

"Big Brother."

"Something?"

Yang Ling turned and stopped, glancing at the three of them.

"Big Brother, last time you lent us three Copper Coins but didn't leave your name. We didn't know how to find you to pay you back."

Chen Xu quickly said.

"Yang Ling."

Yang Ling said with a faint smile, "Three Copper Coins, you can keep them. No need to pay me back."

That generous!?

Lin Guoliang's expression shifted, and he suddenly said:

"Big Brother, can you teach us how to mine?"

Yang Ling glanced at him:

"And why would I?"

Lin Guoliang froze, a sheepish look spreading across his face.

Chen Xu couldn't help but curse inwardly, shooting Lin Guoliang a fierce glare before turning to Yang Ling with a smile:

"Big Brother, my friend here isn't too bright. Please don't mind him. But we've actually earned a few Copper Coins these past few days, so we still need to repay you."

With that, he took out five Copper Coins and handed them to Yang Ling.

Five, huh?

Yang Ling smiled, accepted them without hesitation, then waved and quickly walked away.

"Why did you give him five..."

Lin Guoliang's expression soured.

One Copper Coin could buy a steamed bun—that was serious money!

"Call it an investment. Maybe this game has some kind of affinity system too. This guy seems easy to talk to; raising a hidden affinity score might help us down the line."

Chen Xu said.

"Then you should've discussed it with us..."

Lin Guoliang grumbled.

Wu Meng nodded: "Yeah, you need to talk it over next time. After all, the money belongs to all of us."

"..."

Chen Xu fell silent for a moment. "Then those two Copper Coins are on me."

Lin Guoliang and Wu Meng immediately perked up.

"Fine."

This time, Yang Ling didn't wait until nightfall. He seized an opportunity when no one was around and slipped straight into Mine No. 5.