Divine Realm Level Rankings

Mine Cave No. 1 was filled with forty or fifty miners working away with grunts.

Since they were all experienced hands, and ordinary stone and dirt were nowhere near as hard as Fire Crystal Rock,

in just about two hours, the mine cave seemed to have expanded by a small circle.

During that time, some Fire Crystal Ore deposits buried deep underground were exposed.

Others had already rushed to start digging them up.

Yang Ling's luck wasn't great. He hadn't found a single piece of Fire Crystal Rock.

He planned to head deeper, but the vein guards watching him didn't pay him any attention.

"That kid's heading deeper. Should we send someone after him?"

One of the vein guards noticed Yang Ling's movements and asked his companion.

"Why go? If we run into a cave-in, we'll all die. Just keep watch at the entrance."

His companion rolled his eyes.

"But didn't the higher-ups tell us to search in here for the Buddhist scripture Prisoner Slayer hid?"

"I don't believe that bastard hid the scripture here. It's probably just a smokescreen. Otherwise, they would've found it long ago. Why send miners in to dig up every inch of the place?"

"Just look at how Supervisor Wu only sent forty or fifty miners inside, and you'll know what they mean. They're merely giving Bitter Enlightenment Temple an explanation."

"Besides... finding it might not be a good thing. Not finding it would actually be better."

After his companion's reminder, the guard seemed to understand something and immediately fell silent.

Yang Ling compared the surroundings to his map and continued deeper into Mine Cave No. 1.

The map marked several locations where large chunks of Fire Crystal Rock had been found.

Whenever he reached one of those nearby areas, he began digging.

After repeated probing and pinpointing, he finally found a fairly good chunk of Fire Crystal Rock.

"Let's get to work!"

Yang Ling gripped his refined steel pickaxe, every muscle in his body tingling with excitement.

One strike, two strikes, three strikes!

With every blow, cool and refreshing experience flowed into his body.

Whenever this happened, Yang Ling lost all sense of time and entered a state of complete absorption.

Who knew how long had passed before he finished digging out the Fire Crystal Rock.

Yang Ling put it into the cloth pouch at his waist and weighed it in his hand. It was around three jin.

"You're really fast at mining."

Not far away, someone held a tinderbox and stared at him in surprise.

Yang Ling wasn't afraid of ore thieves today. He calmly looked over and saw an unfamiliar miner.

"I know every miner in Miner Village. Even if someone new arrives, I check their attributes to see whether they're a player."

"Why hadn't I ever seen this guy before?"

The other man looked to be in his twenties. He wore miner's clothes, but his bearing was somewhat unusual.

Yang Ling glanced at his attribute panel:

Character: Xu Qing

Class: Martial Artist

Strength: 22

Agility: 17

Spirit: 7

Martial Arts: River-Mountain Draw-Sword Art (Advanced Mastery), Twelve River-Mountain Fists (Advanced Mastery), River-Mountain Heart Method (third-rate, Initial Mastery)

Faction: Mountains and Rivers Sect

Yang Ling was secretly shocked.

This young man had the highest attribute points of any Martial Artist Yang Ling had ever seen!

His Strength, Agility, and Spirit added up to a full forty-six points!

Even Hui Neng of Bitter Enlightenment Temple only had thirty-six!

"Brother, you look unfamiliar."

Yang Ling casually said, "Mining is simple. It's just a matter of practice."

With that, he continued searching for the next Fire Crystal Ore deposit, digging and probing all around the area.

Xu Qing seemed interested. He quickly stepped forward and said,

"I haven't been here long. How about I learn how to mine from you?"

"Sure, but don't disturb me, and don't steal my Fire Crystal Ore."

Yang Ling answered casually.

Xu Qing nodded with a smile. "Easy enough."

From then on, wherever Yang Ling went, Xu Qing followed.

Yang Ling no longer ventured deeper into the mine cave.

With such an expert beside him, he constantly felt as though needles were pricking his back.

He wasn't sure what the other man was after.

Soon, nearly a whole day had passed.

Yang Ling's cloth pouch held over ten jin of Fire Crystal Ore.

"It's getting late. Shouldn't we head out?"

Xu Qing reminded him.

Yang Ling was preparing to leave too, but as he casually struck the ground a few more times on his way out, he found another piece of Fire Crystal Rock.

Without another word, he immediately got to work!

"He's a mining fanatic..."

Xu Qing stood at a distance, sighing inwardly.

"I heard from Wu Que that one jin of Fire Crystal Rock can be exchanged for one hundred copper coins."

"At his pace, earning one or two taels of silver a day wouldn't be a problem."

"That would be thirty taels a month..."

"I understand him now."

Xu Qing did the math and understood why Yang Ling was so obsessed with mining.

At that rate of earning money, he would work his hardest too.

"If I mined with all my strength, I wouldn't be slower than him. But... his endurance seems excellent. Even after mining all day, though he's tired, he can still keep going."

"Is his will simply that strong?"

Xu Qing thought to himself.

At this moment, Yang Ling's eyes held nothing else.

He had already determined that Xu Qing was merely an expert sent by the Mountains and Rivers Sect to secretly search for that Buddhist scripture.

The man had only struck up a conversation because he saw how quickly Yang Ling mined.

For now, he posed no danger.

So leveling up was what mattered most.

His eyes were fixed solely on that Fire Crystal Ore deposit.

He dug with all his might.

Finally...

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, you have leveled up and gained 1 free attribute point."

"Leveled up..."

Yang Ling instinctively wanted to add it to Strength, but immediately came to his senses and added it to Spirit instead.

Warmth rose within his body before flowing through his veins and into his head.

He felt his thoughts become clearer, his entire mental state rising to another level.

He opened his attribute panel:

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Martial Artist

Level: 9

Strength: 14 (3)

Agility: 5

Spirit: 11

Martial Arts: Vajra Wisdom King Art (first-rate cultivation method, beginner)

Experience: 40/100

Mountain-Crushing Fist (Initial Mastery)

Proficiency: 22/1000

Health: 110

"Level 9."

Yang Ling sighed inwardly.

Level 10 was no longer far away.

"As one of the first batch of Divine Realm players, my leveling speed shouldn't be slow. It's just that there isn't a level rankings list, so there's no way to see the overall situation."

Yang Ling thought as he walked toward the mine cave entrance.

A few breaths later, a thunderous notification sounded beside his ears.

"Congratulations, a player has been the first to reach Level 10 and successfully complete a class advancement."

"The Divine Realm Level Rankings are now open."

"Further features will be released gradually."

Immediately afterward, a gleaming golden panel appeared before him.

[Divine Realm Level Rankings]

Yang Ling wasn't the only one stunned.

In Miner Village, Lin Guoliang and the other two also heard the booming notification and saw the golden Divine Realm Level Rankings.

Zhang Wei, who was also mining underground, slowly straightened up, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.

"Someone reached Level 10? And completed a class advancement? How's that possible... I'm only Level 3. Who leveled up that fast? Could it be Yang Ling?"

He immediately opened the Divine Realm Level Rankings to see what was going on.

At the same time, countless players in different locations did the same.

[Divine Realm Level Rankings]

[001: Hui Wu of Bitter Enlightenment Temple, Level 10, Class: Martial Monk]

[002: ???]

...

...

"So... only one person reached Level 10, and he's from Bitter Enlightenment Temple. What a coincidence..."

"If this player entered the game at the same time as me, then his luck is absurdly good. He became a disciple of a top-tier major sect like Bitter Enlightenment Temple right away?"

Yang Ling felt uncertain, but inwardly, he was alarmed.

If he had been the first to reach Level 10, would the Divine Realm Level Rankings have exposed him too?

"This isn't a good thing..."

"But I guessed one thing right. Level 10 really is the threshold for class advancement..."

Yang Ling took a deep breath.