Do You Qualify to Say No?

At night, Yang Ling took his official saber and found a secluded spot near the village to practice the Thief-Catching Saber Technique.

The hut was too small to swing it properly—practicing fist techniques was fine, but a saber would split the whole place apart.

Two hours passed without him noticing.

The proficiency had increased by 5 points.

One hour for 2.5, exactly as he had guessed earlier.

He kept at it until nearly dawn, then returned to the wooden hut to cultivate the Vajra Mingwang Technique.

One hour passed.

Two hours passed.

When the Experience Points had increased by 13, they stopped moving.

"The Vajra Mingwang Technique's cap is also 13 points now."

"Nearly four hundred points a month. In about two months, I'll break through to the Second Layer."

Just then, Chen Xu's voice came from outside the door, calling him to go down into the mine.

"..."

Yang Ling suddenly realized his time was nowhere near enough.

"I haven't practiced Collapse Mountain Fist today yet. Between going down the mine, training Martial Skills, and cultivating the inner technique, there's simply no time."

"If I can't find a way to do both, I'll have to cut down on some Martial Skills later..."

"By the way, that Spirit Nurturing Pill—such a treasure—could I buy it with my own money?"

"If I could get Spirit Nurturing Pills, the issue with Martial Skill proficiency could be temporarily solved..."

Thinking this, Yang Ling picked up his Steel Pickaxe and headed out.

When he returned, it was already evening.

He continued practicing the Thief-Catching Saber Technique.

This Martial Skill had a follow-up and brought far more benefits than Collapse Mountain Fist, so he wanted to push its proficiency higher.

Before he knew it, dawn came again. He switched to cultivating the Vajra Mingwang Technique, using it to replace sleep and restore his energy, then went out to mine again.

For the next several days, he basically followed the same routine.

Every day, new miners were sent to the Ore Vein, and Yang Ling had already spotted several batches of Players.

But he couldn't be bothered with them.

He only exchanged words with Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing.

These two had also learned some lessons from Lin Guoliang's incident and temporarily kept their distance from those Players.

In Mine Shaft No. 4.

As Yang Ling dug, he suddenly felt a surge of warmth.

He was about to Level Up.

A faint joy rose in his heart.

Sure enough, a crisp, pleasant chime sounded:

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, you have leveled up. Received 1 Free Attribute Point."

Without overthinking, Yang Ling directly added it to Spirit.

"Time's about right. Let's call it a day."

Leaving the Ore Vein, Yang Ling went to find a spot to practice the Thief-Catching Saber Technique again.

As he trained, another surge of warmth appeared.

The official saber in his hand suddenly became several times sharper! Its speed also increased by a notch!

Yang Ling opened his Attribute Panel and took a look:

Character: Yang Ling

Occupation: Constable

Level: 14

Strength: 11

Agility: 5

Spirit: 26

Exclusive Skill: Insight

Martial Arts: Vajra Mingwang Technique (First Glimpse of the Door)

Experience Points: 140/1000

Collapse Mountain Fist (Mastery Through Practice)

Proficiency: 102/10000

Thief-Catching Saber Technique (First Glimpse of the Door)

Proficiency: 0/1000

Health Points: 210

"When I circulate energy, my Agility gets an extra 20 points. Adding the 3 points from Thief-Catching Saber Technique and my base 5, my Agility can reach 23..."

Yang Ling's expression shifted as he slowly began to circulate the Vajra Mingwang Technique.

He held his official saber and executed the Thief-Catching Saber Technique.

His blade grew faster and faster, his whole body darting and weaving across the open ground.

Without him noticing, a light rain began to fall from the sky.

Under the fierce momentum of his saber, the rain couldn't even get close to him for a time.

Yang Ling suddenly locked onto a tree about a foot thick and slashed down with one stroke!

Pfft—

The tree was cleanly split in two!

Only then did the rain gently land on Yang Ling, making him feel a slight chill.

"So this is saber technique."

Yang Ling stared at the tree broken in two and sank into thought.

At his peak, he could now reach 32 points of Strength.

But even using Collapse Mountain Fist, 32 points of Strength couldn't let him break this tree in a short time.

It would take at least two or three punches.

"This must be why that saber has 20 points of Attack Power."

"It seems weapons naturally have an advantage over bare hands."

"Correspondingly, martial skills like sword techniques and saber techniques should be harder to obtain. If I hadn't become a constable, I wouldn't have gotten a saber technique anytime soon."

Yang Ling made up his mind.

From now on, he would focus on training the Thief-Catching Saber Technique and set Collapse Mountain Fist aside for now.

If he could advance the Vajra Mingwang Technique to the Second Layer, and bring Thief-Catching Saber Technique to Perfected Skill, his saber momentum would become terrifying!

"I wonder how my current strength compares to Xu Qing and Huìnéng."

"I should be no weaker than the latter, but probably still a bit below Xu Qing."

"Still, without absolute power to crush them, if I really faced experts at their level, they wouldn't panic like Wu Que did. Then, with their rich combat experience, they'd fight me—and I might not win."

Yang Ling pondered as he walked back toward the wooden house.

Once inside, he continued cultivating the Vajra Mingwang Technique.

Until Chen Xu's voice came from outside.

As soon as Chen Xu saw Yang Ling step out, he hurried over and said in a low voice:

"Brother Yang, it seems another big shot came today. I saw Steward Niu scurrying off to Supervisor Wu's residence."

"Is that so."

Yang Ling smiled. "That's none of our business. Let's go down the mine."

"Right, down the mine!"

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing nodded excitedly.

They felt it wouldn't be long before their next level up.

They hadn't been digging long when a Mine Guard suddenly entered the shaft and called for Yang Ling, saying he was to go to Supervisor Wu's residence.