All of Them Were Grinding Maniacs!

"This Red Gold Pickaxe is pretty good. I'll take it."

Yang Ling nodded in satisfaction and hung it from his waist.

With an Official Saber and a Red Gold Pickaxe at his waist, he looked awkward no matter how one looked at him.

The amusement in Fang Qingyang's eyes deepened at the sight.

"Besides this Red Gold Pickaxe, the rest are all Fine-Steel Pickaxes. Each can increase strength by 5 points. Though they aren't white-grade equipment, that kind of boost is more than enough for players."

Yang Ling said to Chen Xu and the other man,

"You two should each pick one as well."

The two had long been impatient. They immediately chose a Fine-Steel Pickaxe each.

"There are still over a hundred left here..."

Yang Ling looked at Fang Qingyang. "Get someone to pack them up and send them all to my place."

"Uh..."

Fang Qingyang froze for a moment, his expression turning strange.

"Supervisor Yang, each of these Fine-Steel Pickaxes can sell for three taels of silver..."

Yang Ling said, "Are they yours?"

"No, they're the property of the mine vein."

Fang Qingyang immediately replied.

"Then that settles it. I'm the supervisor, so I decide how they're distributed."

Yang Ling said, "Get someone to pack them up and send them to my place. There are one hundred and three Fine-Steel Pickaxes here in total. Not one can be missing."

"Also, get me a map of the mine caves here. Don't try to fool me. I want the most detailed and up-to-date version."

"...Yes."

Fang Qingyang said nothing more and silently nodded.

Half an hour later, all one hundred and three Fine-Steel Pickaxes, along with the mine cave map, were delivered to Yang Ling's courtyard.

"Yang Ling, what is this?"

Xu Qing seemed to have just finished practicing the River-Mountain Heart Method. He stepped out of his room looking full of energy, then froze when he saw the pickaxes on the ground.

"Senior Brother Xu, these are all assets of the Red Gold Ore mine. I intend to distribute them reasonably."

Yang Ling smiled and clasped his fists.

"Hand them directly to the miners? That's one way, but there aren't nearly enough of them."

Xu Qing frowned. "Besides, even if the miners receive these, they may still slack off."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Xu. I'll have Chen Xu and the others select miners who are willing to make money and who have ambition.

"I guarantee they won't slack off. They'll even work hard and put in extra hours."

Yang Ling said, "Let's test the results first. We have three months. If it works, great. If not, there's nothing we can do."

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing secretly nodded. As long as they were players, how could they not work hard after getting something this good?

After all, they needed to level up. Besides, the Fine-Steel Pickaxes had impressive effects.

The moment they held them, they felt their strength nearly double!

"That's true. Every method has to be tried. Hmm, judging by how you look, are you planning to go down into the mine yourself?"

Xu Qing noticed the Red Gold Pickaxe at Yang Ling's waist.

"Senior Brother Xu, this is a Red Gold Pickaxe. It'll definitely mine ore crazy fast.

"I plan to give it a try and see how much Red Gold Ore I can mine in a day."

There was a hint of excitement in Yang Ling's voice.

"Good. I was right about you. You have a natural passion for mining."

Xu Qing nodded happily.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Xu Qing, Yang Ling took Chen Xu and the other man to the mine vein.

He had made a round of inspections that morning. There were quite a lot of players here, more than a hundred in total.

Some of them already had strength attributes exceeding 5 points, which showed that they had been mining diligently and weren't like Lin Guoliang.

A small portion, however, looked listless, as though they were merely muddling through life.

These players had originally been slated for elimination.

But for the sake of production, he planned to observe them a little longer. If necessary, he could make empty promises and give them a motivational boost.

"Isn't that Supervisor Yang? What are they going to do?"

Several managers had somehow appeared behind Fang Qingyang.

One of them looked at the three men in the distance, his expression somewhat strange.

"Go down into the mine."

Fang Qingyang smiled. "Our Supervisor Yang seems to really enjoy mining. Maybe he's even thinking of increasing Red Gold Ore production all by himself."

"What?"

The managers exchanged looks, then could not help laughing.

"There are thirty-six mine caves here. Each one is far more complicated than the ones at the Fire Crystal Mine."

"Let's start with Mine Cave No. 1."

Yang Ling opened the map and did not put it away, simply leading the other two into Mine Cave No. 1.

Quite a few miners already knew that he was the newly appointed supervisor.

Seeing what he was doing, they could not help feeling curious.

"Everyone, what do you think Supervisor Yang is planning to do in Mine Cave No. 1?"

"Could he be planning to clear out the Ore Worms and ore bandits inside so we can enter the mine caves?"

"I'm not going. Whoever wants to go can go. Haven't enough people died in these mine caves over the years?"

"What if you make money but don't live long enough to spend it? I'm not going, anyway."

A miner immediately voiced his stance while also watching the reactions of the other miners.

When he saw their expressions gradually turn wary, he was instantly satisfied.

Mine Cave No. 1.

This time, Yang Ling moved forward holding a torch.

He no longer needed to sneak into the mines.

As the supervisor, he could do whatever he wanted openly and honestly.

About an hour later, Yang Ling found Red Gold Ore glowing with golden light in a recessed area.

"Search around nearby, but don't wander too far."

Yang Ling said.

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing immediately nodded and began searching for Red Gold Ore as well.

"It's you, then. Come on!"

Yang Ling gripped the pickaxe, his strength reaching 21 points!

He suddenly exerted force, accompanied by a sharp whistle through the air.

The Red Gold Pickaxe slammed viciously into the Red Gold Ore.

Clang—

Sparks flew everywhere.

A chunk of Red Gold Ore was chipped off just like that.

From the feedback through the Red Gold Pickaxe, the material truly was nearly ten times harder than Fire Crystal Rock.

At that moment, a cool energy surged into Yang Ling's body.

The energy was also more substantial than when he mined Fire Crystal Rock!

"It gives more experience than the Fire Crystal Mine!"

"Though this stuff is indeed nearly ten times harder than Fire Crystal Rock."

"My strength isn't what it used to be either."

"And there's the 10-point strength boost, plus experience restoring stamina..."

Yang Ling's gaze gradually sharpened as he wildly swung the Red Gold Pickaxe in his hand.

The endless clanging made Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing's scalps tingle.

Was he even human?

Crazy Ten-Strikes!

A thought suddenly came to Yang Ling, and he activated the skill built into the Red Gold Pickaxe.

In that instant, the Red Gold Pickaxe in his hand seemed to leave afterimages!

In an extremely short time, it struck ten times in succession!

It was so fast that the sounds nearly overlapped!

A massive chunk of Red Gold Ore was forcibly chipped off.

Yang Ling, however, felt his body grow somewhat tired.

Fortunately, the enormous amount of experience he had just gained quickly relieved his fatigue.

Chen Xu and Chen Guoqing had each found Red Gold Ore by then and began mining as well.

The three-man mining team remained in the mine cave for a full day and night.

During that time, Chen Xu and the other man needed to rest after mining for a while.

Whenever that happened, they would see Yang Xu still crazily hammering away at Red Gold Ore as if he never knew exhaustion, and they could not help inwardly remarking that he was truly a monster.

"Officer Chen, I think Brother Yang just now... swung his pickaxe so fast it left afterimages. Were my eyes playing tricks on me?"

"Your eyes weren't playing tricks on you. I saw it too. Terrifying indeed."

Ding!

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

He leveled up!

Yang Ling immediately added it to his spirit, then opened his Attribute Panel:

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Constable

Level: 15

Strength: 11

Agility: 5

Spirit: 27

Exclusive Skill: Insight

Martial Art: Vajra Wisdom King Art (Initial Mastery)

Experience: 179/1000

Mountain-Crushing Fist (Complete Integration)

Proficiency: 102/10000

Bandit-Catching Saber Technique (Initial Mastery)

Proficiency: 106/1000

Health: 210

"Not bad. Even if I lose my job after three months, I can still level up like crazy at the Red Gold Ore mine during those three months!"

Yang Ling was very satisfied with this leveling speed.

He opened the Divine Realm Level Rankings for a look:

[Divine Realm Level Rankings]

[001: Star-Gazing Academy, Luo Kai, Level 17, Class: Student]

[002: Bitter Enlightenment Temple, Hui Wu, Level 16, Class: Martial Monk]

[003: Dead Valley, Qi Kai, Level 16, Class: Medical Apprentice]

[004: Great Derivation Sword Sect, Fang Yun, Level 16, Class: Swordsman]

[005: Heavenly Blade Sect, Ning Xizhe, Level 15, Class: Blade Guard]

[006: Ghost King Stronghold, Lin Dongdong, Level 15, Class: Bandit]

[007: Iron Garment Division, Yang Ling, Level 15, Class: Constable]

[008: Mountains and Rivers Sect, Wu Xiaocheng, Level 14, Class: Blade Guard]

[009: Nine Immortal Dao Palace, Lin Caiyi, Level 12, Class: Daoist]

[010: Extreme Flame Sword Palace, Jiang Tian'ai, Level 12, Class: Swordsman]

"..."

Yang Ling had not expected the Divine Realm Level Rankings to undergo such massive changes after only a few days.

Hui Wu, who should have been in first place, had actually been surpassed by Luo Kai of the Star-Gazing Academy?

"Ninth and tenth... They're actually disciples of first-rate sects. They're way too lucky."

"And how are these people leveling up so quickly..."

Yang Ling muttered to himself.

He also guessed that these top players definitely had their own leveling techniques.

And every single one of them was a grinding maniac!