After taking a Detoxification Pill, the rate at which his Health Points fell slowed instantly.
They finally stopped at 67/100.
The Healing Ointment was gradually taking effect, too.
His Health Points were increasing at a rate of one per minute.
Yang Ling didn't hold back and immediately took two more doses of Healing Ointment.
Although the medicine restored his Health Points slowly, if he used it well, he could keep his HP at a safe level at all times.
He lit his Fire Lighter and looked around.
The Mine Worm that had stung him was nowhere to be seen.
He glanced down at his ankle and saw a tiny hole.
"Damn it, Mine Worms really do approach without making a sound. If one had stung me like that when I first got here, I wouldn't have had time to save myself. I'd have died on the spot."
Yang Ling looked uneasy.
Back then, he'd had only 30 HP.
This time, a single sting from the Mine Worm had taken 33 points. If he hadn't had a Detoxification Pill, he suspected he might have lost another dozen or more.
How could an ordinary person withstand that?
After resting in place for half an hour, he waited until his HP was full before continuing deeper into the Mine Shaft.
He wasn't going to turn back just because of one Mine Worm.
He still had plenty of flatbreads and water left, so he'd do his best to Level Up once more before leaving.
But he hadn't gone far when he rounded a bend and sensed something was wrong.
In the pitch-black darkness, something seemed to be writhing.
Yang Ling lit his Fire Lighter, took one look, and turned to run!
Behind him, a dense mass of black scorpions surged toward him.
There had to be at least eight hundred, if not a thousand!
"So these things were what stung me just now! One sting took a third of my HP. If that whole swarm catches up, I'll be dead in two or three hits!"
Yang Ling's face turned pale.
He was genuinely scared.
"They say Mine Worms only move around in scattered little groups. How did I run into a whole swarm?"
"Can these Mine Worms crawl out of the Mine Shaft?"
"Wait, Mine Worms love ore, but ordinary ore couldn't possibly attract this many. Could it be..."
"Mine Essence!?"
Yang Ling shuddered, and his steps involuntarily slowed.
There was no longer any sound behind him. The swarm hadn't pursued him.
"I heard Uncle Wang and the others chatting before. Some Ore Veins, after existing for a long time, can nurture Mine Essence. That stuff is incredibly valuable..."
"Could this swarm have found Fire Crystal Ore Essence?"
"I should get a lot of Experience Points for mining that, shouldn't I?"
Yang Ling's heart burned with excitement, but a bucket of cold water soon doused it.
With that many Mine Worms, even Supervisor Wu could only stand there helplessly.
"Is there any way to deal with these Mine Worms?"
"Ultimately, they're just bugs. They don't have any real intelligence. If I can't deal with them, maybe I can avoid them..."
Yang Ling immediately opened the map to check. After looking it over several times, he realized the route was a dead end, with no other branches to take around it.
"Looks like there's no other way..."
Yang Ling sighed and headed back.
It was clear that he couldn't stay in Mine No. 5 any longer.
He'd have to switch to another Mine Shaft and keep grinding for Experience Points.
"Wait, there might be another way!"
As soon as he walked out of the Mine Shaft, an idea came to Yang Ling.
"Fire should work against bugs!"
"But it doesn't look like Divine Domain has gasoline..."
Yang Ling felt a little discouraged.
His idea of burning the swarm of Mine Worms to death could only remain an idea. It would be difficult to put into practice.
"If fire won't work, what about water?"
"I can't exactly carry buckets of water inside in plain sight..."
"Huh..."
Yang Ling's gaze suddenly fell on a boulder, and an idea struck him.
He immediately turned around and headed back into the Mine Shaft.
Half an hour later, he had found more than thirty boulders, each about the size of a watermelon.
Each one weighed at least sixty or seventy pounds.
The larger ones weighed at least a hundred pounds.
Yang Ling casually picked one up and hefted it in his hands for a while, then began practicing throwing stones inside the Mine Shaft.
He was incredibly strong now.
Even without holding the Steel Pickaxe, his Strength Attribute was still 10.
He could easily throw a stone weighing dozens of pounds more than thirty feet.
"Strength won't be a problem, and my stamina's decent, too."
"If killing these Mine Worms gives me Experience Points, I won't run out of energy."
"For now, I just need to practice my aim."
With that thought, Yang Ling grew even more patient.
A day and a night later.
Yang Ling had gotten the feel of throwing the stones.
His aim wasn't especially precise, but he could keep his misses within about half a meter!
"Time to give it a try."
Yang Ling moved the stones to the spots he'd picked out, placing one roughly every ten meters, then headed deeper inside.
Just as before, as soon as he passed that bend, the swarm of Mine Worms came after him.
This time, Yang Ling didn't panic. Instead, he deliberately controlled his speed as he ran toward the exit.
He kept a safe distance of more than ten meters from the Mine Worms.
Before long, he spotted the boulders he'd set out.
He immediately bent down, grabbed one, turned around, and hurled it.
The boulder whistled through the air before crashing down hard into the swarm.
Boom—
With a thunderous crash, countless black scorpions were crushed, their fluids bursting out.
One after another, cool streams of energy flowed into Yang Ling's body.
"Experience Points!"
Yang Ling was overjoyed.
After scattering briefly, the swarm of Mine Worms continued chasing him.
Without a word, Yang Ling immediately ran.
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