"Did he say I'd soon be going down to keep him company?"
Yang Ling's face shifted between light and shadow in the firelight.
The first person he thought of was Supervisor Wu.
Could the competition between the major ore veins be dangerous enough to cause deaths?
If that's really the case, I need to level up even more. Ideally, I should obtain an identity before the competition. That would be safer...
Wait, why didn't I get any experience points for killing Fifth Brother?
Yang Ling's expression turned strange.
The several Mine Bandits he had killed earlier had all given him experience points, but Fifth Brother hadn't.
Logically speaking, Fifth Brother's attributes were the highest among the Mine Bandits.
Could it be because it was too easy? Do I have to gain effective experience points through a life-and-death struggle?
That must be it. Otherwise, once certain Players became powerful, things like massacring villages and cities might happen...
Once he understood this, Yang Ling immediately turned his thoughts to Fifth Brother and the others.
He glanced at the map first and confirmed an extremely secluded location before moving the corpses of Fifth Brother and the others there one after another.
Then he dug up some soil and buried them, before using his feet to tamp down the ground.
"Under normal circumstances, it'll be difficult for anyone to discover their bodies. Even if they do, I might not be in the Ore Vein by then."
Yang Ling felt somewhat more at ease.
Only afterward did he belatedly start feeling nauseous.
The games he had played in the past had never been this realistic. After realizing that something was wrong with this game, he was certain that he had really killed people!
Five minutes passed.
Yang Ling's breathing gradually steadied.
His state of mind had also adjusted.
"These Mine Bandits would have killed me if I hadn't killed them. What's killing a few Mine Bandits when it's necessary to survive?"
As he muttered to himself, Yang Ling began checking his spoils.
First was the Fire Crystal Rock Ore that Fifth Brother had used as bait.
He had deliberately spread it across the ground.
There were three jin in total, worth three hundred copper coins.
Then he searched the other corpses and found some Fire Crystal Rock and Copper Coins.
Altogether, there was nearly one jin of ore and four hundred Copper Coins.
"I mined two jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore myself. Adding this four jin gives me six jin, which can be exchanged for six hundred copper coins."
"Then I have more than four hundred copper coins in cash here."
"Together, that makes exactly One Liang Silver."
A smile appeared on Yang Ling's face.
This way of making money was indeed fast. No wonder Fifth Brother and the others had become Mine Bandits.
"Old Fifth's money pouch seems awfully light."
Yang Ling began examining Fifth Brother's money pouch.
With a light shake, a piece of silver fell out!
"A piece of silver? This has to be at least two liang!"
Yang Ling weighed it excitedly.
With that, his wealth had already reached the enormous sum of three liang.
If he saved another two liang, he could buy an identity in Qingshan City!
"Once I have an identity in Qingshan City, I can look for other ways to Level Up, or switch to a mine that gives more experience..."
After packing up his things, Yang Ling continued deeper into the Mine Shaft while thinking.
He no longer dared use the Fire Lighter on the way, instead proceeding in the darkness.
Every few steps, he stopped to listen for movement.
Fortunately, the system's map could still be seen without light. With the map's assistance, he went deeper and deeper, finally finding a Fire Crystal Rock Ore vein.
There was no ambush this time. Yang Ling swung his pickaxe and focused on grinding experience.
Once, then again!
Every strike sent a cool stream of experience into his body, easing his fatigue and aching muscles while indirectly increasing his endurance!
When he was hungry, he ate a flatbread.
When he was thirsty, he drank water.
When he was tired, he rested for a while.
Yang Ling wasn't sure how many places he had changed.
He only knew that his cloth sacks were getting fuller and fuller.
Fortunately, he had prepared several extra ones in advance.
One cloth sack could hold about ten jin of Fire Crystal Rock.
When he had filled three cloth sacks, the pleasant notification rang out again.
"Ding!"
Congratulations, you have leveled up and received 1 Free Attribute Point
"Level 6!"
Yang Ling was extremely happy.
This trip into the mine had already raised him two levels!
He once again added the Attribute Point to Strength.
Now that he knew how important Strength was for mining, he would never choose to increase Agility or Spirit.
Attribute Panel:
Character: Yang Ling Class: Miner Level: 6 Strength: 12 (3) Agility: 5 Spirit: 10 Health Points: 90/90
"My pure Strength has reached nine points. With the pickaxe's bonus, my Strength is now comparable to Supervisor Wu's."
"My Agility is three points lower than his, but my Spirit is seven points higher."
"My total Three Dimensions Attribute far exceeds Supervisor Wu's."
Yang Ling was very satisfied.
As long as everything went smoothly, his Three Dimensions Attribute would definitely increase dramatically after a month!
"I'll reach Level 10 first. Other games have Class Transfer quests after Level 10. I wonder if 'Divine Domain' will be the same."
Yang Ling once again focused on mining.
Only after discovering that he was running low on flatbreads did he begin heading back.
For safety's sake, however, he chose a different route on the way back, taking a longer detour.
By the time he left the Mine Shaft, it was already deep into the night.
A few figures could vaguely be seen in the Ore Vein.
"More than thirty jin of Fire Crystal Rock Ore... I wonder if it'll arouse Steward Niu's suspicion."
"It's a shame this game didn't give me a Storage Grid..."
Gritting his teeth, Yang Ling decided to take a gamble.
It wasn't that he hadn't considered burying the Fire Crystal Rock Ore somewhere first.
But he knew that his mining speed would only grow faster from here on out.
Before you continue