Mine Tunnel No. 1: the fifty miners of West Five were hard at work, digging away.
They were all experienced hands, and ordinary stone and sand were softer than Fire Crystal Rock.
So in just about an hour, the mine tunnel had grown noticeably larger.
Some Fire Crystal Rock Ore buried deep underground had also been exposed.
The miners had rushed to dig it out.
Yang Ling was out of luck and hadn't found a single piece of Fire Crystal Rock.
He decided to head farther in. The Mine Guard keeping watch didn't stop him.
"That kid's gone deeper. Should we send someone after him?"
One Mine Guard noticed Yang Ling moving and asked his teammate.
"Why bother? If there's a cave-in, we'll all die. Let's just watch the entrance."
His teammate rolled his eyes.
"But weren't we told to find the Buddhist Sutra Prisoner Butcher hid in here?"
"I don't believe that guy could've hidden the sutra here. It's probably just a smokescreen. Otherwise, they would've found it ages ago. Why else would they have miners dig every inch of the place?"
"Just look at how Supervisor Wu only sent fifty miners in. That tells you what this is about. It's nothing more than giving Ku Jue Temple an explanation."
"Besides... finding it might not be a good thing. Not finding it would actually be better."
After hearing his teammate's reminder, the guard seemed to understand. He immediately fell silent.
Following the map, Yang Ling continued deeper into Mine Tunnel No. 1.
The map marked several spots where large pieces of Fire Crystal Rock had been found.
Whenever he reached one of those areas, he started digging.
After probing various spots over and over, he finally found a decent piece of Fire Crystal Rock.
"Let's get to work!"
Yang Ling gripped his Steel Pickaxe, his muscles quivering with excitement.
Once, twice, three times!
Each strike brought a cool, soothing rush of experience into him.
At times like this, Yang Ling always lost track of time and became completely absorbed.
He didn't know how long it took, but eventually he had mined all the Fire Crystal Rock.
He put it in the pouch at his waist and weighed it in his hand. There were about three pounds.
"You're mining so fast."
Not far away, someone holding a Fire Lighter remarked in surprise.
Yang Ling wasn't worried about Mine Bandits today. He calmly looked over at the stranger, a miner he didn't recognize.
"I know every miner in Miner's Village. When someone new shows up, I check their attributes to see if they're a Player."
"But how come I've never seen this guy before?"
The stranger looked to be in his early twenties. He wore a miner's uniform, but there was something unusual about his bearing.
Yang Ling glanced at his Attribute Panel:
Character: Xu Qing
Class: Martial Artist
Strength: 22
Agility: 17
Spirit: 7
Martial Arts: Mountain River Drawing Sword Technique (Entering the Hall and Room), Mountain River Twelve Fists (Entering the Hall and Room), Mountain River Heart Method (Third-rate, First Glimpse of the Door)
Faction: Mountain River Sect
Yang Ling was somewhat startled.
This young man had the highest attributes of any Martial Artist he'd ever seen!
His Strength, Agility, and Spirit added up to a full 46 points!
Even Huìnéng from Ku Jue Temple only had 36!
"You look unfamiliar, brother."
Yang Ling replied casually, "Mining is easy. You just need practice."
With that, he continued searching for the next Fire Crystal Rock Ore, probing and digging in various spots around Xi Zhou.
Xu Qing seemed interested. He hurried over and said,
"I haven't been here long. Mind teaching me how to mine?"
"Sure, but don't get in my way, and don't steal my Fire Crystal Rock Ore."
Yang Ling replied casually.
Xu Qing nodded with a smile. "No problem."
From then on, Xu Qing followed Yang Ling wherever he went.
Yang Ling didn't go farther into the mine.
Having a master like him nearby made Yang Ling feel like a thorn was constantly pricking him in the back.
He couldn't tell what the man was after.
Before long, the day was almost over.
Yang Ling's pouch held a dozen pounds of Fire Crystal Rock Ore.
"It's getting late. We should head out, right?"
Xu Qing reminded him.
Yang Ling was ready to leave too, but as he walked out, he took a few casual swings with his pickaxe and found another piece of Fire Crystal Rock.
Without another word, he got straight to work!
"This guy's obsessed with mining..."
Xu Qing stood some distance away, feeling impressed.
"Wu Que said one pound of Fire Crystal Rock can be exchanged for a hundred copper coins."
"At his pace, he could earn one Liang Silver a day without a problem."
"That's thirty taels a month..."
"I get it now."
Xu Qing did the math and understood why Yang Ling was so dedicated to mining.
At that rate, he would work hard too.
"If I mined with all my strength, I wouldn't be slower than him, but... his stamina seems incredible. He's tired after a full day of digging, but he can still keep going."
"Is he just exceptionally determined?"
Xu Qing wondered to himself.
At that moment, Yang Ling saw nothing else.
He had already figured out that Xu Qing was a master from Mountain River Sect, secretly searching for the Buddhist Sutra.
The only reason he'd struck up a conversation was because Yang Ling mined quickly.
Xu Qing posed no immediate danger to him.
So leveling up was what mattered most.
Yang Ling had eyes only for this piece of Fire Crystal Rock Ore.
He worked at it with all his might.
Finally...
"Ding!"
"Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 Free Attribute Point."
"I leveled up..."
Yang Ling was about to put it into Strength, but quickly came to his senses and instead put it into Spirit.
A warmth blossomed inside him, then flowed along his blood vessels and into his head.
His mind felt clearer, and his overall mental acuity had risen a notch.
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