Class Change Speculations

"What happened to you just now?"

As they left the mine cave, Xu Qing asked curiously.

"Tired."

Yang Ling answered casually.

"Fair enough. You spent all day digging away—how could you not be tired?"

Feeling the soreness in his arm muscles, Xu Qing thought that he should cultivate the River-Mountain Heart Method that night to ease it a little.

After saying goodbye to Yang Ling, he swaggered out of the mine vein.

Steward Niu acted as though he had not seen him and did not ask for his Fire Crystal Ore.

"Yang Ling, thirteen catties of Fire Crystal Rock? You're getting faster and faster."

Steward Niu took out several silver beans, weighed them to confirm they came to one tael and three mace, then handed them to Yang Ling.

"Practice makes perfect."

Yang Ling accepted the silver with a grin.

He had previously spent five taels of silver on the Mountain-Crushing Fist and had a little over three taels left.

Now that he had received another tael and three mace, he had once again gathered enough money to purchase an identity.

After Yang Ling left, Steward Niu sighed inwardly.

"That important figure's status is even greater than Senior Brother Wang Jing's, yet he is so familiar with Yang Ling. As expected of a Yang Family descendant."

Inside the wooden hut, Yang Ling was still thinking about the Divine Realm Rankings.

"Hui Wu's Martial Monk class should be one of the classes available within Bitter Enlightenment Temple."

"But I'm not a sect disciple. What can I change classes into?"

"A miner? There probably isn't such a class."

"There will definitely be benefits after changing classes—either improved attributes or some special abilities."

"Suppose I'm level 10 and encounter another level 10 player. If they have already changed classes, they'll probably be much stronger than me."

"So I need to change classes. I'm only one level away from level 10..."

Yang Ling was somewhat troubled. He knew nothing about changing classes.

At the same time, he worried that once he reached level 10, he would be exposed on the Divine Realm Level Rankings.

"Yang Ling, are you in there?"

Zhang Wei's voice came from outside.

Yang Ling got up and opened the door.

Zhang Wei immediately slipped inside, looking rather solemn.

"You know about the Divine Realm Rankings, right?"

"I know."

Yang Ling nodded.

"That means there are quite a few players like us!"

Zhang Wei muttered, "Take that Hui Wu, for example. He leveled up so quickly. That proves joining a sect is our ultimate destination."

As he spoke, he suddenly looked up at Yang Ling.

"Do you have any guesses about changing classes?"

"You've played plenty of games before too, haven't you?"

Yang Ling asked in return.

Zhang Wei nodded thoughtfully.

"I have. In every game with class changes, changing classes is set up as something extremely important."

"Most have more than a dozen classes. Some games even have dozens of them."

"Every class comes with its own advantages and bonuses."

"We've now confirmed that Divine Realm has a class called Martial Monk."

Yang Ling nodded. "But no one has changed into the other classes yet, so we can only speculate at most."

"I reckon there might be classes like bandits, thieves, Taoists, physicians, and alchemists."

"..."

Zhang Wei's expression turned somewhat strange.

"What are you planning?"

"What could I possibly be planning? Don't forget, I'm a miner right now—and a refugee."

Yang Ling rolled his eyes.

"Some players are born lucky. We can't compare to them, so we can only dig deep into the fields we're good at."

"My field is mining, so all I need to do is keep mining and level up as much as possible."

"You mine so quickly. What level are you, anyway?"

Zhang Wei asked instinctively.

Yang Ling fell silent for a few breaths, then said calmly.

"Definitely higher than yours. I'm level 6."

"Level 6? That's about right. I'm almost level 4 myself. Being two and a half levels ahead of me makes sense."

Zhang Wei's expression improved somewhat.

He did not think Yang Ling would lie to him. If Yang Ling had claimed to be level 8 or 9, he would have found it harder to believe instead.

After Zhang Wei left, Yang Ling resumed practicing his fist techniques.

There was no possibility of changing classes for now, so he did not dwell on it.

Working hard to improve his base attributes was the proper path.

Near dawn, Yang Ling began cultivating the Vajra Wisdom King Art.

After one round, not only was his fatigue swept away, but he also gained 5 experience points.

"Forty-five points now. I'm not far from 100."

"However, my Mental Power increased by 1 this time, but there doesn't seem to be much change in experience gains..."

"No, there should be a change. It's just too small to notice easily!"

"When I practiced my fist techniques last night, the proficiency seemed to rise just a tiny bit faster, though it wasn't very obvious..."

To verify this, he planned to continue leveling up.

He would add a few more points to Mental Power.

If Mental Power could help increase proficiency and experience gains, that would be ideal.

Even if it did not help, it would not be a loss.

It was surely one of the requirements for cultivating certain advanced techniques. Raising it could not be wrong.

He arrived at Mine Cave No. 1.

Just like yesterday, Xu Qing followed him the entire way.

The two chatted on and off.

Yang Ling noticed that Xu Qing was digging especially hard today as well.

After watching for a while, he returned to his own work.

After digging for several hours, Hui Neng and Wang Jing came by midway through.

Seeing excavation marks everywhere in Mine Cave No. 1 and dozens of miners laboring away, Hui Neng nodded slightly.

"This time, we have the Mountains and Rivers Sect to thank for its support."

"Of course, of course."

Wang Jing grinned broadly.

After they left, Yang Ling continued digging with full concentration.

When night fell, he returned to the hut to practice his fists and cultivate.

It could be said that, twenty-four hours a day, aside from eating, drinking, and relieving himself, he was grinding experience and proficiency.

A few days later.

Yang Ling slowly finished his cultivation and glanced at the Attribute Panel, mainly checking his proficiency and experience.

"Vajra Wisdom King Art: 60/100"

"Mountain-Crushing Fist: 87/1000"

"In another eight days, the Vajra Wisdom King Art will reach 'Initial Mastery.'"

"As for my level... I should be able to reach level 10 today as well."

Yang Ling's heart burned with anticipation.

Everything was improving in an orderly manner.

Compared to when he had first entered the Divine Realm, his ability to protect himself had increased more than tenfold.

Once he mastered the first layer of the Vajra Wisdom King Art, he would no longer fear the likes of Wu Que.

"Right."

With a thought, Yang Ling opened the Divine Realm Level Rankings.

[Divine Realm Level Rankings]

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

[002: Star-Gazing Academy, Luo Kai, Level 10, Class: Classical Student]

[003: Dead Valley, Qi Kai, Level 10, Class: Medical Disciple]

[004: ???]

"Two more people reached level 10 and successfully changed classes?"

"Wait, could it be that only those who successfully change classes can make it onto this ranking?"

"If so... does that mean many players may already be level 10, but cannot make it onto the rankings because they have not successfully changed classes?"

A guess arose in Yang Ling's heart.

At the same time, he remembered two more classes.

"Classical Student should follow the path of scholarship? A Medical Disciple should be related to medicine..."

"They were able to change classes because the places they were in had the conditions for it."

"Looking at it this way, I won't be able to change classes anytime soon."

"Unless I find an opportunity to join some great sect as well..."

"First, I'll level up. If my level is high enough, I'll naturally encounter an opportunity to change classes."

Yang Ling gripped the refined steel pickaxe at his waist and left the wooden hut.

But as soon as he reached the entrance to the mine vein, he realized that today's atmosphere differed from yesterday's.

"You're a little late today."

Zhang Wei walked up slowly.

"The matter is already over, and that master has left as well. So today, I'll also be leaving the mine vein to look for work in Green Mountain City."

"Isn't mining and leveling up pretty good?"

Yang Ling smiled faintly.

Zhang Wei scoffed. "The Divine Realm is a world of martial wanderers. If you want to survive here, mining alone is not enough."

"What future is there in being a miner?"

"I'm going to find work that gives more experience. Clearly, the big opportunities are all in Green Mountain City."

With that, he waved his hand and strode away.